I care about the environment. Here’s why the Corporation Commission matters to me.

What I didn’t know was that the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has the power to regulate the Arizona corporations that are polluting our planet.

I’ve been aware that our environment is in critical condition for most of my life. However, I only became aware of the Arizona Corporation Commission recently – and, despite its low profile, it has a huge impact on how we take care of our environment.

Climate change - is our planet too big to fail?

Every day, I hear about the unimaginably far-reaching impacts of climate change. I’ve heard about our worsening storms, felt our summers get hotter, and studied the countless species going extinct. With each new fact, it seems catastrophic; it feels as if climate change is unstoppable.

One of the biggest reasons that I felt that I couldn’t make a difference was that some of the largest contributors to climate change are our corporations. What I didn’t know was that the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has the power to regulate the Arizona corporations that are polluting our planet.

According to its website, the Arizona Corporation Commission has “the ultimate responsibility for final decisions on granting or denying rate adjustments, enforcing safety and public service requirements, and approving securities matters.” This means that the Commission not only directly impacts how much households spend on energy, but also ensures that corporations are safeguarding our health–which should include the health of our planet. They have the power to approve expansive clean energy projects, but also the power to approve (as they did this month with the Black Mountain Generating Station) massive expansions of gas-powered generating stations with insufficient environmental controls.

In February, the ACC initiated a process to roll back energy efficiency and renewable energy goals for the state. This is “a big step backward that’s going to hurt Arizona customers and households,” said Mark Kresowik, senior policy director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

However, you have the power to influence the Corporation Commission’s decisions. By law, the Commission is required to have public monthly meetings at their Phoenix office. You can stand up to give public testimony or talk directly to the commissioners about what you want to see and why. You can also vote to put commissioners that reflect your values on the Arizona Corporation Commission; this fall, three out of five seats are up for election. Your engagement with state and local bodies like the ACC shapes our future.

I used to feel hopeless about climate change, despite my efforts to look for an indication of a brighter future. Now, I know that I can make an impact on those corporations that seem “too big to fail” – or rather, in this case, “too big to change” – through the Arizona Corporation Commission.