Mesa City Council approved an agreement last week with Tucson-based Solon Corporation to install almost 3,000 kW of solar panels over parking lots at four city-owned buildings in downtown Mesa.

The panels will generate enough energy to power 500 homes annually.

Besides boosting the Mesa electric utility’s renewable energy portfolio, the solar arrays will also provide shade for about 660 parking spaces. Most visible of these will be the 142 in front of the Main Library.

Updating your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system to cool your home in a smart and sustainable way involves several steps that not only improve energy efficiency but also reduce environmental impact.

Consider these tips from the heating and cooling experts at Carrier to help make your cooling system more eco-friendly:

Arizona is on the frontline for up-and-coming solutions to address climate change thanks to federal investments for renewable energy.

That’s what Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said today at a press conference alongside Arizona State Senator Priya Sundareshan (LD-18) and other local solar industry leaders outside of the local solar manufacturing facility, Solar Gain Inc. in Tucson.

Since 2021, Arizona has received $10.5 billion of investments and incentives into clean energy, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In a significant move, the Biden-Harris Administration today announced the recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, a key initiative under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The rebates, totaling $8,345,000 for Arizona, will enable selectees to purchase 30 clean school buses in 10 school districts across the state. This program is a crucial step in Arizona’s journey towards improving children’s health and tackling harmful air pollution, replacing older, diesel-fueled school buses linked to student and community health issues.

A new federal initiative will rely on University of Arizona research and scholarship to help communities across the U.S. create policies and take action to mitigate and manage extreme heat. The university’s involvement in a new Center for Heat Resilient Communities, which the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday, will help translate climate research into policies and guidelines.

UArizona and Arizona State University are partner institutions with the center, which is led by faculty and staff at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The American Lung Association’s new “State of the Air” report reveals that spikes in deadly particle pollution are the most severe they’ve been in the history of the report. According to the new report, people in the U.S. experienced the most days with “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” air quality due to particle pollution in 25 years. In total, the report finds that 131 million people (39%) are living in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

EPA announces 60 selectees under Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grant competition to deliver solar to more than 900,000 low-income and disadvantaged households nationwide through the President’s Investing in America agenda

EPA announces eight selections under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund’s National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.