Nature-Based Solutions Invest in Sustainable Alternatives to Resource Extractive Economic Development through a Growing Green Industry Cluster
For decades, the City of Tucson and Pima County have been two of the nation’s most innovative and successful leaders in environmental health, water, and conservation. Both governments have made astounding advances in their efforts to manage water, recharge aquifers, improve shade equity, restore native biodiversity, and manage floods and fires across the City.
The City of Tucson’s ambitious Tucson Resilient Together Climate Action Plan serves as a comprehensive and clear roadmap towards that future. The plan outlines a green, safe and thriving Tucson with bold and inspiring goals like carbon neutrality community-wide by 2045 and highlights the next-level work of Tucson Water’s Storm to Shade, a growing program with expanding need for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) contractors.
Last year’s Pima County’s Climate Action Plan, Pima CAN!, outlined ambitious goals to curb emissions and improve air quality. Pima County is now working to complete the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan that will commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in every sector to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050. The City of Tucson, Town of Oro Valley, City of South Tucson, and the Tohono O’Odham Nation are coalition partners in this effort as well, demonstrating a truly collaborative effort.
Over the last five years, both the City and County have collected considerable public input on the impacts of climate change on individuals and our communities with very similar results; water security, drought, extreme heat, and air pollution are issues of high concern to Pima County residents.
An unexpected and missing variable from these two comprehensive plans emerged this summer in data centers. Project Blue, an Amazon Web Services Data Center that was proposed on 290 acres of Pima County land just east of Tucson. Neither plan ever considered or mentioned the development of water and power hungry data centers in the desert.
Amazon’s Project Blue stated that it would bring in 3000 temporary jobs in the construction of the facility, and between 60-100 permanent jobs in the Tucson area paying somewhere between $60,000-$100,000.
Unfortunately, there was not much clarity in regard to what these positions would be or who would be hired for them – as local hiring is “preferable” but short of guaranteed. For now, Project Blue is gone, but our region will inevitably find itself at this crossroads of economic development and protecting our natural resources again in the future. Rather than shaky guarantees and jobs in fields known for rapid automation, what local alternatives exist?
Fortunately, the City of Tucson and Pima County have already outlined a bold and innovative vision that requires a skilled, specialized and highpaying workforce while positively benefiting our health, environment and economy. This offers a roadmap of diverse careers focused on resiliency and opportunity to bring us into the future we deserve.
Arboriculture and Urban Forestry
The Tucson Million Trees initiative has been hard at work for 6 years, planting over 2000 trees at residential homes just last year. In cooperation with local arborists, tree care professionals, and community based organizations like Tucson Clean and Beautiful, tree canopy in parks, neighborhoods, schools and on streets across the city is growing. Every tree planted will require quality maintenance and tree care if it hopes to grow into maturity. This requires skilled tree surgeons, plant specialists, utility specialists and tree climbers. These careers cool communities, clean our air, help active public lands and pay well. The average annual income of an ISA certified arborist is $67,250 with top earners making closer to $80,000+.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Tucson Water’s Storm to Shade program and the Pima County Regional Flood Control Districts Stormwater Parks programs are national leaders in water conservation. Stormwater harvesting principles have already made visible changes in our urban landscape. Trees are greener and healthier, wildlife can be more readily seen, and public art adds character to formerly flooded and forgotten spaces. Storm to Shade clearly demonstrates how intention, design, follow through, and maintenance can transform where we live. In another example of a truly collaborative effort, the County constructs large scale stormwater parks in the City and the City commits to maintaining them into the future. All of these efforts have been a beacon of hope to many and are made possible by a rich web of professionals; landscape architects, construction specialists, project managers, installation contractors, and landscape professionals. On average, landscape architects, project managers, and construction specialists make $80,000 annually, and Tucson Water now has 14 completed storm to shade projects, 5 in construction and 17 in design and the demand is growing.
Residential Rainwater Harvesting
Equipping communities to deal with a heating climate and increasing local water security is both an opportunity and a necessity. A specialized workforce is needed. Residential rain water harvesting specialists are in high demand to help retrofit the Tucson of tomorrow. Grey-water plumbers, landscape specialists, practitioners of active and passive rainwater system design, installation and maintenance are the workforce we need for a climate resilient future. The average plumber makes around $62,000 annually. Classes made possible by Tucson Water and Smartscape give homeowners and practitioners skills to advance technically. How can other Tucson or Pima County workforce and economic development initiatives increase their financial role in the development and advancement of this specialized adult workforce?
Solar and Energy
As a designated “Solar City,’ Tucson has long touted its potential to lead on the renewable energy front. The City of Tucson has committed to doubling its existing solar capacity. Over 38 new solar projects have taken place on City properties since 2019, a huge leap in renewable energy in Tucson. As TEP electrical rates continue to rise, the desire for energy independence grows and specialists are needed. With at least 100 consecutive days of sun a year, careers in solar and other energy experts (auditors, HVAC and weatherization specialists) are currently in high demand, especially as some State energy rebate and solar programs for low-income residents start to come on line.
Invasive Species Management
The 2020 Bighorn Fire was one of the largest wildfires on record in the Catalina Mountains. Over 100,000 acres burned, and spread quickly due to dry and dense invasive species. Buffelgrass, fountain grass, stinknet and other invasive plant species are completely shifting fire ecology regiments across the world, and particularly in the Sonoran Desert. There are huge investments being made in management of this issue, and a dire need for skilled practitioners that are able to apply potent chemicals and identify local flora.Tucson Water already invests in fantastic land management education facilitated by the Smartscape program and logical practitioners. Pima County’s Conservation Lands and Resources works to address it on Pima County lands and provides funding for community education. What if these programs were expanded into a cooperative work experience program collaboratively supported by local government, community based organizations, and local businesses and landscape industry entrepreneurs?
The aforementioned careers are in increasing demand in the future that the City of Tucson and Pima County have envisioned with their ambitious and important Climate Action Plans. However, none of these climate-related career pathways currently fall into federal workforce frameworks such as the Workforce Opportunity Innovation Act. These emerging and innovative careers are interdisciplinary and transcend traditional industry classifications such as energy, construction and landscaping. These are specialists in a new nature-based restorative regional industry and specialists needed to grow the urban forests, cool neighborhoods, and restore the riparian habitats of our desert home.
Nature-Based Solution (NBS) economics are being championed by communities around the world through conservation, restoration, renewable energies, and eco-tourism. The current federal administration seems set on dismantling any progress around sustainable economies and public health made in the past hundred years, and likely will not fund workforce initiatives that help build the workforce of this new economy. It is time for our local government to innovate, model, and develop the resilient Sonoran desert community our citizens deserve. Rather than settle for the externally derived, pre-determined technocratic development agenda, it’s time for local leaders to be bold and stand behind the futures that they have promised their constituents.
tierra y alma 