While the recent rollbacks of national climate policy and backtracking of hard-fought wins are especially concerning - they aren't the whole story. there is another key venue where wins are happening.

The states.

States and local governments have the power to set energy regulations, emissions reduction goals, and fund critical clean infrastructure and transportation. They can protect land and water and make critical decisions about how to leverage funds to protect the environment.

Many of these battles happen in state legislatures, and some of them happen in utility commissions - bodies that help regulate utilities and often make key decisions when it comes to enforcing state climate policy.

In 2025, things in Arizona are as dire as ever. Extreme heat and drought plague the state. AI data centers promise to strain an already stressed system. Meanwhile, Arizona has limited commitment to meaningful pollution climate goals and no clear plan for handling the data center boom and the energy and water demands it will bring.

Back in 2024 we did an episode on what was happening at the Arizona Corporation Commission, a key energy regulatory body in Arizona. On last year’s podcast we covered some of the mistakes being made by the ACC. Today, we are talking about a major win we saw against the ACC that advances our goals.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

In the last two years, artificial intelligence has rapidly changed the world that we live in. If you spend time online, you’ve seen it incorporated into almost every aspect of our digital lives. Search engines, social media, and online tools are all in a race to incorporate AI.

Powering AI are data centers – buildings that house endless rows of servers that bring LLMs, cloud computing, and high-speed internet to our fingertips. But all this power comes at a cost.

Data centers use energy and water – and plenty of it. Until now those demands have been predictable and easy for utilities to incorporate into their forecasts. Now, the new rapid growth and change of AI threatens to break that mold.

WRA has been investing a lot of time and energy into understanding what that cost for the climate could be and solutions to address those costs.

To better understand, we asked some of WRAs experts to explain what’s happening with data centers and what we can do about it. In this podcast, we will explore why data centers are different in the age of AI, how they pose a threat, and what our states can do about it.

On this Episode of Two Degrees Out West – What is the climate cost of AI, and what can we do about it?

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

The impacts of climate change are becoming harder and harder to ignore. Many communities in the interior West are on the front lines of dealing with these impacts.

The White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, has been taking steps to mitigate the impacts of drought on their communities. The 1.6 million-acre Fort Apache Indian Reservation is located in east-central Arizona at the headwaters of the Salt River. The river produces over half of the streamflow entering Roosevelt Lake and supplies water to the Salt River Project and Phoenix Metro cities. This summer was a particularly dry summer for the tribe.

Previously on 2° Out West we interviewed members of the tribe to talk about their water metering project. The aim is to better track and ultimately conserve the limited water supplies on the reservation. The water meter project is on-going and only becoming more necessary as drought continues.

On this episode of 2° out west we'll once again talk with tribal members to hear how drought is impacting their communities and how water meters can help be part of the solution.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

Mere hours after Inauguration Day, the new administration began slashing hard-fought environmental wins: rolling back protections from fossil-fuel development, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, and freezing spending for critical climate resilience projects.

The Trump Administration has continued on the path that will end up forcing Americans to pay more for energy, bear the high financial and human costs of air pollution, face accelerated impacts from climate change and a weaker, less competitive economy.

The speed and scale of this dismantling of American leadership on climate and conservation has been staggering.

Unquestionably, aggressive defense of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws and protection must be a priority.

So, what is WRA doing? Doubling down on state action.

We know that climate and conservation progress is both still possible and is critical in this moment. At WRA, we’ve spent more than three decades advancing critical climate, environmental and conservation policies in the decision-making forums where most conservation policy is made —at the state level.

Why? State governments hold significant authority to advance clean energy, to regulate polluting fossil fuel sources, and to protect people in our communities.

Cities and counties can adopt sustainable and efficient water use practices, smart land use plans and invest in clean infrastructure that can power our homes and our transportation systems. These decisions add up to protect the West.

In 2025 our work saw climate wins in all of our states. We have already covered Utah and New Mexico where we saw progress on clean transportation and wildlife protection respectively, among other wins.

Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado all have longer legislative sessions. So how did those states do in advancing wins for the environment and economy of the West?

On this episode of 2 Degrees Out West learn how WRA has helped states stay strong even as federal progress on climate action stalls.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

In 2022, the water levels in Lake Powell dropped so low that experts worried the Colorado River wouldn't be able to flow past Glen Canyon dam. This situation is called deadpool, and it's one of many concerns surrounding a drier and hotter Colorado River.

All forecasting points to another dry year for the basin - this is expected to continue over the long term as climate change affects the West. If you're following the news around the Colorado River, you might know that we've come to a serious decision point. The river is getting drier while our use has only grown over time.

The current guidelines that manage the water in the river expire in 2026 - leaving the door open to create new guidelines that better manage the river and its drinking water supply into the future.

We talked a little about the future of the river with Kevin Fedarko back in January. So how are things going now?

...

WRA is engaged in the process to create real solutions that consider the health of the river and the long-term sustainability for our communities.

Right now, the seven Colorado River Basin States are talking about these guidelines, but they haven't made much progress. We had a conversation with one of WRA's experts on the Colorado River - John Berggren. John has been deeply involved in the work to create new guidelines.

He gives a quick update about the state of our snowpack in the West, where the negotiations on the river are at, and what we need to see in the future to sustain a healthy Colorado River.

On this Two Degrees Out West Mini Pod: How are the Colorado River negotiations going?

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

Each year WRA works hard to advance our climate goals on the state level.

In an increasingly uncertain federal environment, state level action is the key to seeing real change and progress on climate.

WRA has been working at state legislatures all throughout 2025 to bring forward proactive policies that fight climate change and its impacts. We’ve also defended against anything that could hold us back from the future we want for our region.

Two of our states with the shortest legislative sessions are Utah and New Mexico.

...

In 2025 New Mexico had a 60 day session while Utah had a 45 day session. In both states we saw a variety of wins and opportunities for success in the future.

We sat down with some of WRA’s policy and government affairs staff to understand what our goals were and what some of our biggest wins were in those states.

On this episode of Two Degrees out West: How did Utah and New Mexico do on Climate in the 2025 legislative session?

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

In the West, we want a future where we're no longer dependent on coal and methane to meet energy demands. We want to see more clean energy adopted and we want to keep that clean energy affordable.

Nearly two-thirds of voters in the West want to see a transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy.

So - How do we get there?

What if I told you there was a lesser known but critical regulatory process that can create real emission reductions on the ground?

Integrated Resource Plans are one of the most important tools we have to fight climate change - but they aren't talked about much.

It's a state level process that determines how much of your power comes from clean sources - like wind and solar.

And the IRP has a significant impact on the energy bill you pay at the end of the month.

On today's episode of two Degrees out west learn about one of the most important parts of the transition to clean energy that you may have never heard about - and how WRA uses that process to secure a cleaner future for the West.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...

If you're listening to this podcast, I'm willing to bet you are looking for solutions to climate change and pollution in the West.

You probably already recycle, reuse grocery bags, avoid single-use plastic, and maybe drive an EV to minimize your environmental impact.

Reducing our dependence on polluting practices is a good first step in caring for the environment.

Similarly, the transition to zero emission vehicles is a key strategy to fight back against climate change.

Countless studies have proven that over the life cycle of the vehicle, EVs greatly reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and they allow us to build a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient economy.

But did you know that there's a way to make this sustainable technology even better for the West?

We can do this by ensuring EV batteries have a second life.

Unlike a traditional vehicle, the battery that powers an EV can be reused or repurposed once the vehicle itself reaches the end of its life.

And in an instance where a battery can’t be reused or repurposed, we can recover the critical minerals within - rare earth minerals like lithium or cobalt – which can be recycled almost indefinitely.

And even better - WRA is working within our region to advance forward thinking policies to make EV battery second life applications as effective, economical, and efficient as possible.

On today's shorter episode of 2° Out West, learn all about the circular EV battery economy and what it could mean for the future of the West.

2 Degrees Out West is a podcast from Western Resource Advocates, an environmental conservation organization that's focused on the Interior West. WRA works across seven states to protect our climate, land, air, and water. WRA protects and advocates for Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming.

2 Degrees out West is a podcast for advocates and decision makers who want to fight climate change and its impacts across the West.

On 2 Degrees Out West we talk with climate experts and advocates to bring you stories, experiences, and insights from their work in the places we call home.

It is Hosted by Dave Papineau

Want to be part of 2 Degrees Out West?

• Email us with thoughts, suggestions, and interviewees at dave.papineau@westernresources.org.
• Follow us @westernresourceadvocates on Instagram.
• Create a clip sharing "our Bright Climate Future for the West" and send it to us at dave.papineau@westernresources.org. to be included in one of our next episodes.
• Join our email list to stay updated on when new episodes are released and calls to action on how you can help the West.
• ...