This blog is based in the Phoenix-area which is occupied O'odham land, hence the focus on this regional area, despite being opposed to the entire CANAMEX trade corridor that runs from Canada to Mexico through Arizona. Emphasis is on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway and on water.
Stop CANAMEX, Stop the Intermountain West Corridor and I-11! Stop the Sun Corridor! Stop the 202!
As part of the
public review period for the South Mountain Freeway Final Environmental
Impact (EIS) Statement, it was noted that 10 comments submitted in 2013
on the Draft EIS were not documented in the Final EIS. As a result, ADOT
and the Federal Highway Administration issued a formal Notice of
Omission in the Federal Register on Nov. 7, 2014, and published an
Errata to the Final EIS on Nov. 28, 2014. The Errata contains the 10
additional comments to the Draft EIS that were inadvertently not
recorded in the Final EIS and includes the responses to those comments.
The Errata is available for a 30-day review until Dec. 27, 2014.
The files below are in PDF format unless otherwise noted.
ADOT has not put out a press release, and this update to their page does not make it clear that comments are accepted now until 12/27/14.
Update: ADOT sent out an announcement via email (content below) after viewing this website. Someone there checks this website every few days. (Hey ADOT- quit being racist and trying to destroy the environment for your financial agenda!) A press release has still not shown up on their website.
South Mountain Freeway comment deadline extended to Dec. 29 Addendum to Final Environmental Impact Statement now available for review With
the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway
Administration issuing an addendum – called an Errata – to the Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed South Mountain Freeway,
the comment period has been extended to Dec. 29 for final comments
before a Record of Decision is issued in 2015. Of
the more than 8,000 comments received during the public review period
for the South Mountain Freeway Draft Environmental Impact Statement, it
was noted that 10 comments submitted in 2013 were inadvertently not
relayed to the study team for incorporation into the Final Environmental
Impact Statement, which was released Sept. 26. As a result, the Arizona
Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration
issued a “Notice of Omission” in the Federal Register and published an
Errata to the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The
Errata contains the 10 comments and formal responses to those comments;
it will be available for a 30-day public review period. The Errata can
be found at these 18 locations:
Phoenix Public Library – Cesar Chavez; 3635 W. Baseline Road, Laveen; 602.262.4636
Phoenix Public Library – Desert Sage; 7602 W. Encanto Blvd., Phoenix; 602.262.4636
Phoenix Public Library – Ironwood; 4333 E. Chandler Blvd., Phoenix; 602.262.4636
Phoenix Public Library – Burton Barr; 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix; 602.262.4636
Chandler Sunset Library; 4930 W. Ray Road, Chandler; 480.782.2800
Sam Garcia Western Avenue Library; 495 E. Western Ave., Avondale; 623.333.2565
Tolleson West Public Library; 9555 W. Van Buren St., Tolleson; 623.936.2746
Tempe Public Library; 3500 S. Rural Road, Tempe; 480.350.5500
ADOT Environmental Planning Group; 1611 W. Jackson St., Phoenix; 602.712.7767 (call for appointment)
Gila River Indian Community District 1 Service Center; 15747 N. Shegoi Road, Coolidge; 520.215.2110
Gila
River Indian Community District 2 Service Center; 9239 W. Sacaton
Flats Road, Sacaton; 520.562.3450/520.562.3358/520.562.1807
Gila River Indian Community District 3 Service Center; 31 N. Church St., Sacaton; 520.562.2700
Gila River Indian Community District 4 Service Center; 1510 W. Santan St., Sacaton; 520.418.3661/520.418.3228
Gila River Indian Community District 5 Service Center; 3456 W. Casa Blanca Road, Bapchule; 520.315.3441/520.315.3445
Gila
River Indian Community District 6 Service Center; 5230 W. St.
Johns Road, Laveen; 520.550.3805/520.550.3806/520.550.3557
Gila River Indian Community District 7 Service Center; 8201 W. Baseline Road, Laveen; 520.430.4780
Gila River Indian Community – Ira Hayes Library; 94 N. Church St., Sacaton; 520.562.3225
Gila River Indian Community Communications & Public Affairs Office; 525 W. Gu U Ki Road, Sacaton; 520.562.9851
A
Record of Decision is expected in early 2015. The final decision on
construction of the freeway is a cooperative effort involving ADOT, the
Federal Highway Administration and the Maricopa Association of
Governments as the regional planning agency. The corridor is part of a
comprehensive, voter-approved regional plan developed by the Maricopa
Association of Governments, and ADOT serves as the agency responsible
for implementation of that plan, with the Federal Highway Administration
providing the oversight required to use federal transportation funds. For more information, visit azdot.gov/SouthMountainFreeway, email projects@azdot.gov, call 602.712.7006, or write to ADOT Community Relations, 1655 W. Jackson St., MD126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007.
November 15th, 2014
Akimel O’odham Youth Collective
Contact: Akimeloodhamyc@gmail.com
On Saturday November 15th, 2014, the Arizona Department of
Transportation (ADOT) came to the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) to
hold a public forum regarding the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) for the proposed South Mountain Loop 202 Freeway. About 25 people
attended to show their resistance to the freeway. Moadak Do’ag, also
known as the South Mountains, is a sacred place for all O’odham people.
Eighteen other tribes also have cultural affinities to the South
Mountain range, although ADOT did not consult directly with those
eighteen other tribes listed in the FEIS. The Gila River Indian
Community has a history of opposition to the proposed freeway dating
back to the late 1980s, yet ADOT continues to plan freeway construction
through Moadak Do’ag. GRIC’s tribal council has passed three resolutions
against the freeway and countless actions have been taken by community
members over the decades.
Runners
The morning of November 15th started off with a prayer run beginning
from part of the South Mountain range that ADOT plans to blow up for
freeway construction. The prayer run went throughout District Six of the
Gila River Indian Community, which is the part of GRIC that would be
most harmed by the proposed freeway. The prayer run concluded at a
community gathering place, the District 6 ballpark. The roughly 5 mile
run had runners from age 10 to 50 years old, and included runners from
the other tribes that are listed in the FEIS. The runners were met with
more supporters at the District Six ballpark. The group then marched
down 51st Avenue to the Komatke Boys and Girls Club where the ADOT forum
was held. Marchers held signs and banners reading “ADOT IS RACIST – No
More Freeways On O’odham Land”, “Save the Mountain”, “We Love Clean
Air”, and several others.
You might not think Arizona has anything to do with the 43 disappeared students from Ayotzinapa in Guerrero state in Mexico. But these disappearances had a lot to do with trade and NAFTA specifically. Arizona is spending billions of dollars on roads as trade corridors (I-11/CANAMEX, etc.) and ports of entry at the border, in addition to the accompanying border security. NAFTA requires not just the violence of border security, that of displacement and loss of jobs, but also state repression and the violence of the drug war, which are intimately connected.
The main Arizona-based proponent of NAFTA is former Congressman Jim Kolbe, who would seem in complete denial about the situation in Mexico. True, the shit hadn't quite hit the fan in Mexico when he was glorifying NAFTA at an event combined with a golf tournament in Tubac less than a month ago. At that point, news about the students' disappearance was spreading across the world as police were searching for the mayor of Iguala and his wife who were the likely masterminds of the attack. This story of the students does not have that much to do with Arizona specifically. However, students from their particular teachers college were known to protest the neoliberal reforms of President Nieto and others, and even though they may not have been doing the same on the day of their disappearance in Iguala, this is why they were targeted. Those neoliberal reforms, praised by Kolbe, continue in order to make Mexico a safer place for foreign investment, not for the people. Some Arizona elites want a cozy trade relationship with Mexico. Kolbe likely isn't ignorant of this situation even as he paints a pretty picture. He and colleagues of his who were also involved in the creation of NAFTA (one of whom was also involved in the Iran/Contra Affair, another in the military coup against Allende in Chile) are clearly seeking to continue the free trade agenda.
The attack on the students was not simple state repression, due to the relationship between the narcos and the state. In a recent interview, Laura Carlsen explains what is called "Arming NAFTA" (or "Armoring NAFTA"),
which means that there’s a series of mechanisms—the drug war being the
most important—that are really aimed at militarizing the country in
order to protect foreign investment. So, as that becomes even more
intensified with the greater investment in oil and gas, including
fracking, including things that are going to be devastating to Mexican
communities and to the Mexican environment, there’s going to be more
emphasis on the militarization, not to fight the drug cartels, because
they haven’t even really been doing that, and certainly not been doing
that effectively, but to fight the resistance of the people to the
takeover of their lands and resources.
Kolbe claims that NAFTA contributed to political stability in Mexico and improved the lives of Mexican people, according to his article, "NAFTA is Working" printed around the 20th
anniversary of the trade pact. Indeed, the false myths that fed the fear in Arizona leading to SB 1070, such as rumors of violence spreading from Mexico to Arizona in the form of beheadings, (and what happened to Phoenix being the number two kidnapping capitol of the world?) are barely a memory now that the illusion of calm in Mexico has won out. This facade of calm and safety requires violence or the threat of it, but it can get out of control as it perpetuates itself. Kolbe, having been involved in the creation of NAFTA, still has an interest in its functioning no matter the consequences. If Arizona is to spend billions of dollars reorganizing its infrastructure to support trade with Mexico, there's some work to be done.
There are two institutions that play a large part here with which Kolbe has connections. One is the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the other is the Merida Initiative also known as Plan Mexico. The SPP lasted from 2005-2009 as an extension of NAFTA functioning largely in secret. Harsha Walia and Cynthia Oka write,
The SPP calls for maximization of North American economic
competitiveness in the face of growing exports from India and China;
expedited means of resource (oil, natural gas, water, forest products)
extraction; secure borders against “organized crime, international
terrorism, and illegal migration”; standardized regulatory regimes for
health, food safety, and the environment; integrated energy supply
through a comprehensive resource security pact (primarily about ensuring
that the US receives guaranteed flows of the oil in light of “Middle
East insecurity and hostile Latin American regimes”); and coordination
amongst defense forces.
The Merida Initiative, allegedly meant to combat the drug trade in Mexico, came out of the SPP. Its emphasis, like Plan Columbia, is on the supply-side rather than largely US demand for drugs. The Merida Initiative is a drug war aid package involving military hardware being provided to the Mexican military (over $2 billion since it began in 2008). So not only does it increase US political power and control in Mexico, it provides the US military industrial complex with further profits. Carlsen pointed out, "There’s
a constant lobbying effort on the part of defense companies,
intelligence companies and private security firms in the United States
to perpetuate the Merida Initiative and to perpetuate the drug war in
Mexico." Yes, as long as the drug war, and therefore the drug trade continues, the longer there is need for these aspects of the military industrial complex.
The drug war is used as a way to pull off political assassinations that can be swept under the rug by making it seem that those killed were involved in the drug trade or allowing for them to be overlooked in comparison to much more gruesome mass murders, as John Gibler discusses in a really interesting interview. Laura Carlsen also discusses the so-called collateral damage of the Merida Initiative, which are largely political attacks such as on Zapatista communities, and abuses towards women.
The Merida Initiative has contributed to the militarization of the border as well. "By including 'border security' and explicitly targeting 'flows of
illicit goods and persons,' the initiative equates migrant workers with
illegal contraband and terrorist threats. This ignores both the root
causes of Mexican out-migration and the real demand for immigrant labor
in the United States," wrote Carlsen. It is rarely mentioned that so many get involved in the drug trade because that's the only way to make money. NAFTA and other reforms prior and since has led to this situation.
In essence, the power of the state (US and Mexico) to protect foreign investment requires violence--but justified violence. This complicated relationship between the state's need for crime and crime-fighting at the same time is discussed by John Gibler.
...the idea of corruption seems to lose any analytical or descriptive power, right. It's not that there's an otherwise integral pristine state structure that is threatened by some external contaminating or corrupting force. It's rather that simply for organized crime to function--for it to exist as we know of it today--it must constantly have in its direct employ members of the state. And for the state political programs of drug warring to exist and to be used and manipulated as they are, they need the constant presence of enemy drug warriors with whom to combat.
In this context, it may not be all that surprising that one panelist in favor of continuing the Merida Initiative was a colleague of Kolbe's. John Negroponte who, as America's Ambassador to Honduras, was complicit with human rights violations and was essentially the tactical director of the Contra war. Negroponte claimed ignorance about the Iran Contra Affair, yet there is evidence he was deeply complicit. It's important to note that aside from the international arms trade, money from cocaine trafficking made up part of the unofficial funding to the Contras provided by the US Government.
Kolbe works with Negroponte and others who were involved in NAFTA, as part of the Global Strategies team of McLarty and Associates formerly known as Kissinger McLarty Associates (Kolbe started before Kissinger split from McLarty). Henry Kissinger, known to many as a war criminal, was complicit in the CIA-backed military coup in Chile. Kissinger is famous for calling NAFTA "the single most important decision that Congress would make during Mr.
Clinton’s first term…the most creative step toward a new world order
taken by any group of countries since the end of the Cold War … not a
conventional trade agreement but the architecture of a new international
system." Thomas "Mack" McLarty, president of McLarty and Associates, is described as a key figure in the creation of NAFTA and the
FTAA and was also involved in the SPP.
Jim Kolbe has played a central role in pushing for the CANAMEX Corridor, the NAFTA trade route connecting Canada, the US, and Mexico that also came out of SPP. Kolbe is the CANAMEX expert for the Arizona-Mexico Commission (AMC) which Kolbe calls the god-father of CANAMEX. Arizona Governor Brewer, who is a chair of the AMC, appointed Jim Kolbe as the chair of the Arizona Governor’s CANAMEX Task Force and is Arizona’s private sector designate to the multi-state CANAMEX coalition which might be defunct, or perhaps has taken new form. According to the AMC website, "the Arizona Governor’s Transportation and Trade Corridor
Alliance (TTCA)... encompasses the former CANAMEX Task Force." Kolbe was also appointed by the Governor as co-chair of the TTCA (the other being ADOT Director John Halikowski). Rather than being an extension of the Arizona government, TTCA, with its many private sector members, is more of an extension of AMC. There is a lot of overlap between AMC, TTCA, and transportation committees, as elaborated on in Arizona's Roads Meant for Trade with Mexico Despite Corruption and Violence?
The Arizona Office of Tourism joined up with the TTCA on November 7th, the same day that officials announced that the students had most likely been murdered, incinerated, and dumped in Cocula. "Arizona Should Seize the Moment as Trade Partner with Mexico" was the title of an article by an official with the Arizona Office of Tourism printed last week after protesters torched several government buildings in Mexico in response to the government's indifference. Of course there was no mention of the violence in Mexico in the Arizona Office of Tourism articles. Perhaps Arizona is just slow to realize the implications of what happened in Mexico.
Laura Carlsen explained,
Mexico, with the reforms under Peña
Nieto..., is
now betting the entire country on foreign investment, especially in the
newly opened oil and gas area. And President Obama and the Mexican
government and the transnational corporations that are based in the U.S.
have been pushing this, and it’s one of the reasons they created this
very false image of everything’s great and modern, and Peña Nieto is the
great reformer in Mexico, that has now been completely shattered by the
revelations not just of the 43 students, but the mass graves and the
disappearances and the corruption and collusion throughout the country.
The issue is not so much a moral question about Arizona's participation with this narcoestado whose corruption also involves the favors to a Chinese-led consortium for a $4 billion rail deal in exchange for a mansion. It is more about the ways in which state power is used to enforce these policies favorable to private interests such as multinational corporations, here in Arizona and elsewhere. Multiple Arizona agencies have trade with Mexico as a primary focus. If they don't, the TTCA will make sure they do. Arizona just opened a trade office in Mexico and announced various moves to improve trade and increase security. There are massive plans for shaping the so-called Sun Corridor as a trade hub along CANAMEX or the Intermountain West Corridor which means the I-11 and various other roads that may act as truck bypasses, such as the South Mountain Freeway. Billions of our tax dollars is being funneled in this direction of trade with Mexico, yet we will also not see the benefits of it.
Ayotzinapa's disappeared may be a turning point for Arizona.
It has been decided for us that the destiny of Arizona's economy has everything to do with international trade, specifically trade with Mexico. Perhaps it seemed that the current Mexican president was succeeding in making Mexico safer for foreign investments, but in recent days, the press is saying Peña Nieto is in the midst of the worst crisis of his presidency. Evidence is pointing to the horrible mass-murder of 43 student protesters in the state of Guerrero last seen in custody of police. Most likely, the murder, destruction (bodies were chopped up and burned), and disposal of the students was master-minded by the mayor and/or his wife who wanted to be the next mayor, both of whom fled but were captured by authorities. [The official story given by the Mexican government has been shown to be false.] Protesters recently attacked the National Palace in response to Nieto, rather than showing respect for the families of the students, leaving for China amidst a controversy regarding a Chinese-led consortium (which included Mexican companies) winning a bid for a high speed passenger rail. Media has exposed a likely quid pro quo deal in which Nieto and his wife received a mansion in exchange for the award for the rail bid. The $4 billion deal for the rail system was suddenly cancelled when this and other questions about transparency came up regarding the bid.
There is no question that Arizona's transportation plans revolve around trade with Mexico. There is a major push for Interstate 11 for example. Much has moved forward recently in furtherance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) largely in part to the expected growth of the Mexican economy and its role in international trade. Not to imply that there is no corruption among the US and state governments, the enthusiasm with which AZ officials embrace trade with Mexico raises various questions, especially now. Increased transportation infrastructure opens more doors for multi-billion dollar arenas for corruption, likely facilitates the drug trade (and more security at check points and such may only mean more arms, equipment, and training going to those working with drug cartels), in addition to more human rights violations and environmental damage when and where the infrastructure is built. Transportation and trade go hand in hand not only because of the requirement for movement of goods, but also because both are venues that allow multinational corporations to make massive amounts of money.
Mexican transportation infrastructure is meant to link up to Arizona's. Case in point is the major October announcement, discussed by KJZZ, that Mexican officials pledged "to spend the equivalent of $1 billion on highway
improvements to expedite the shipments of goods from central Mexico into
the U.S." Specifically this involves the improvement of Route 15 leading north to Nogales (part of the CANAMEX Corridor). This is where Interstate 11 from Las Vegas through Arizona is likely intended to reach the Mexican border.
There is such an effort to push international trade as the basis of
Arizona's economy that John McCain wrote a Guest Opinion piece titled,
"We must make it easy to do business in Arizona" printed last month
in a Nogales newspaper.
A recent ADOT press release stated that "the U.S. and Mexican
governments finalized a plan to invest $6.8 million
implementing U.S. technology, equipment and training to enhance the
efficiency of the military inspection station north of Hermosillo, which
inspects more than 1,000 trucks per day." Increased international trade brings more border security and
militarization.
The release
also listed other developments regarding Arizona-Mexico trade including
increased freight rail infrastructure, "development of a new port of
entry at Douglas/Agua Prieta and the expansion of the San Luis II Port
of Entry at San Luis, Arizona," in addition to "advances to the
necessary improvements to the Mexican side of the Nogales-Mariposa Port
of Entry at Nogales, Arizona."
ADOT also recently announced the launch of Arizona's new trade office in Mexico
and a delegation of Arizonans to Mexico City for strategic meetings.
Mexican leaders announced that ProMexico, which is "the federal
government agency responsible for promoting Mexico's participation in
the international economy," will open an office in Phoenix.
Although the Transportation and Trade Corridor Alliance released its Roadmap several months ago, they're making efforts to push their agenda with their action plan recently posted on their website. Goal #1 is to Establish Arizona as a leader in High Value Trade and Investment, and goal #2 is to Develop an Integrated Transportation System Supportive of Arizona's Economic Goals. As part of this second goal, they seek to support what they call "Key Commerce Corridors." They say, "The Key Commerce Corridors plan represents Arizona's major statewide transportation initiative for the next 20 years."
TTCA is claiming they're the best authority on prioritizing Arizona's transportation plans and that they plan to come up with funding options, which involves public-private partnerships (P3). "Creative ideas for an era of reduced federal funding include new state and local revenue sources, private infrastructure, P3s, user fees, local funding, and high-impact, low-cost projects to meet infrastructure needs." Of course they're pro P3- they're made up of public and private members.
According to their website, "TTCA will serve as the state's freight advisory committee, as required under the recently enacted federal transportation bill," which refers to MAP-21. According to the Arizona-Mexico Commission website, "the Arizona Governor’s Transportation and Trade Corridor
Alliance (TTCA)... encompasses the former CANAMEX Task Force." A review of recent Arizona State Transportation Board minutes shows an emphasis on TTCA's influence.
The TTCA would probably not exist without the Arizona-Mexico Commission. AMC is a non-profit organization which is essentially a public-private partnership unit in that its leadership involves public officials such as the governor (Brewer) and the director of ADOT (Halikowski) in addition to several private, as in corporate, partners. The Transportation and Trade Corridor Alliance (TTCA) is primarily made up of AMC board or committee members and gives AMC's agenda more legitimacy and reach. TTCA was instituted in
early 2012 by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. According to a press
release back then, "ADOT
–
in collaboration with the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Arizona
Commerce Authority
–
will bring
together public and private sector partners to assess opportunities for
Arizona to pursue investments in trade
corridors such as
the newly-designated Interstate
11,
and to explore enhancements to
border infrastructure.
The Alliance will help identify how best to take advantage of the
state’s current resources and guide
future investment in a strategic way to increase the capacity of
existing corridors
–
all with the ultimate goal of
improving Arizona’s competitiveness in a global marketplace"
As discussed on this blog, AMC is said to be the "god father" of the CANAMEX Corridor by AMC's CANAMEX expert Jim Kolbe. It is likely that CANAMEX is not specifically mentioned in the TTCA Roadmap or Action Plan because Interstate 11 is now in the works. Interstate 11 would in some ways complete CANAMEX, but is also part of a vision for a similar trade Corridor called the Intermountain West Corridor, which may eventually be designated officially as Interstate 11 from the border with Canada to the border with Mexico. See Filling in the I-11/CANAMEX Gaps for more exploration of this issue.
Below is a list of people representing the overlap between various organizations related to trade and transportation. (It is uncertain as to whether the CANAMEX Coalition still exists, hence the parentheses below. Where AMC is in bold, the individual is on the board rather than just on a committee).
John Halikowski (ADOT Director): State Transportation Board, AMC, TTCA
Victor Flores: State Transportation Board, AMC, TTCA
Hank Rogers: State Transportation Board, AMC
Jack Sellers: State Transportation Board, AMC
Jim Kolbe: TTCA, AMC, (CANAMEX Coalition)
James Manson: TTCA, AMC
Gary Magrino: TTCA, AMC (formerly)
Mary Peters: TTCA, (CANAMEX Coalition)
Margie Emmerman, TTCA, AMC, (CANAMEX Coalition)
Bruce Wright, TTCA, AMC, (CANAMEX Coalition)
Tom Skancke Executive Director of I-11 Coalition, (CANAMEX Coalition)
Dave Berry President of the I-11 Coalition, formerly AZ Governor's CANAMEX task force
The TTCA recently put on an event in early November as described in an ADOT press release: As the World Trades: Leaders to discuss Arizona’s place in global economy. "Leaders from Arizona’s transportation, trade and commerce industries will come together with national and international business specialists next week to discuss Arizona’s stake in the global marketplace and strategies to foster international trade and economic growth."
An additional component of all of this is the partnering agreement signed in April of 2014 to form the Arizona-Sonora Binational Megaregion. According to the Yuma Sun, "The newly formed
Arizona-Sonora Binational Megaregion will 'foster competitiveness and
innovation' and 'implement economic development plans and strategies to
benefit the megaregion.'"
Considering so many US citizens know someone who has lost their job to China or Mexico, how do state officials expect to convince us that more trade with Mexico will bring economic prosperity? NAFTA has not been good for any workers. Although NAFTA was not the beginning of the negative impact in Mexico of US influence on policy, nor of international trade, there is plenty of evidence that it had a major detriment to Mexican workers and their families. The US government correctly predicted that NAFTA would lead to displacement and migration of Mexicans and began to increase border security in urban areas, such as Operation Gatekeeper in the San Diego area, launched the same year NAFTA was enacted. Migrants have been scapegoats in response to decreasing employment rates, yet it is the companies that seek cheaper wages, lower labor standards and less environmental regulations. Add to this the corruption that is so clear among Mexican officials, and we can see that any bi-national partnership can bring nothing good.
Plans for massive new transportation projects in Arizona such as the Interstate 11, South Mountain Freeway Loop 202 Extension, and High Speed Passenger Rail seem out of touch with reality. As the urban heat
island effect expands and the drought gets worse, it may be inevitable that residents
will have no choice but to use expensive water piped in from desalination plants on
the coast of Mexico or California. The massive amounts of energy
needed to construct this infrastructure for desalination and
transport also requires an immense amount of water--an endless
ridiculous cycle--but one that is profitable to a few. Will those with the
vision for the future of the so-called Sun Corridor, a "megapolitan" including Phoenix and Tucson, ignore these
problems, and simply promote growth by building new roads like Interstate 11 and the South Mountain Freeway to allegedly improve the region's
position in the global economy and provide the private sector with opportunities to make money on transportation projects?
Even the authors of the report to which most of the popularity of
the Sun Corridor concept is owed admit that they're not so sure about
the environmental sustainability of such a concept, yet at this point, many city and state officials as well as others take the Sun Corridor as
inevitable. According to some in local government, media, and academia, it is both already the Sun Corridor, as well as a work-in-progress that requires
strategic planning, infrastructure such as Interstate 11 and high-speed passenger rail
connecting Tucson and Phoenix, intentional branding, and a
regional identity.
Sun Corridor cheerleaders have projected that the area would double
in population from 5 million to 10 million by 2050. The Sun Corridor is taken as a given, or inevitable because of this growth. It is allegedly justified both to accommodate the projected growth and to encourage it. The relationship between Phoenix and Tucson is described as natural and organic, despite the fact that the entire basis upon which the cities' settlement and expansion has been achieved has been through theft and exploitation of land, water, and other resources.
Primarily a project of think tanks with funding by large foundations, the Sun Corridor is one
of several "megapolitans" in the US which were defined only
about ten years ago based on projected population, proximity between
two or more urban areas, an
economic integration across boundaries, and their importance in global trade. In some ways it is a prediction based on a
trajectory, but mostly it is an agenda for profit-seekers. The Sun Corridor concept is by no means homegrown. Some local officials adopted it after being informed by consultants of the “benefits” of the global competitiveness it would bring, or by the institutions pushing public-private partnerships or state trust land reforms for more developments or infrastructure.
Megaregions, Global-City Regions, Mega-Cities, etc. as trade hubs that surpass the metropolitan scale are not at all specific to the US, nor are they new. These and the
accompanying finance, infrastructure and governance projects arose out of free-market-oriented models across the
world, largely promoted and pushed by the World Bank specifically
through structural adjustment programs and development over the last couple decades. The economic
integration mirrors that of arrangements such as NAFTA paired with
infrastructure like CANAMEX/I-11, or the European Union with their passenger rail system. The Sun Corridor is part of a much broader shift towards large private companies attempting to gain access to decision-making and tax dollars to carve their design into the land in effort to increase economic competitiveness.
Profit-making opportunities abound for the few who are in a position to take advantage if the Sun Corridor comes to fruition. First, a megapolitan is seen
as an important node in global trade, a way for the region to become
economically competitive, or at least this is the justification used for promoting growth. It is also an opportunity for companies to win infrastructure deals, since pushing the megapolitan concept
brings along "necessity" for infrastructure like roads and rail. It may allow for changes to laws regarding state trust land, which would enable transportation projects and new
development projects. Megapolitans, along with other megaregions,
span municipal and sometimes state or even international lines and render the area vulnerable to imposition of new methods of organization and governance, with the full intention of providing
private interests access to decision-making and new "partnerships." An arrangement called a public-private partnership (P3) is an integral part
of the megapolitan plan.
Financial Interests
Big banks, consultants, engineering and construction
companies, and real estate developers all have interests in these new
projects, even if they're not quite all on the same page. Those with
the most power and influence are the large financial institutions
with their relationships to think tanks, foundations, and
academia.
Despite the high degree of interest in the construction of new
roads and such, the overarching motivation mustn't be overlooked.
As explained in More
than Bricks and Mortar, the primary incentive is likely a
growing effort on the part of financial institutions and those who
see common interests to find more profit-making opportunities.
"... 'infrastructure' is less about financing
development (which is at best a sideshow) than about developing
finance..." "what is being constructed are the subsidies,
fiscal incentives, capital markets, regulatory regimes and other
support systems necessary to transform 'infrastructure' into an asset
class that should yield above average profits."
Public-private partnership (P3), a variation on privatization, is the increasingly preferred “innovative financing solution” used
to accomplish arrangements for transportation projects, sometimes
involving toll roads for example, but often instead, companies get paid
through taxes. P3s may be somewhat new to the US, but they're not new
to the world. Since the 1980's, investment banks have developed new
ways of making sure they receive full repayment for loans to
countries across the world, rather than accepting when they've made
bad investments. Repayment was ensured through the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which saw major neoliberal
influence in the early 80's, with a major role played by the
Rockefeller Foundation, whose sway did not stop there. Indebted
countries were then required to make institutional reforms called
"structural adjustment programs" which cut back on social
welfare programs and opened the country up to privatization and
further foreign investment. Increasingly, investment banks and others
have sought opportunities for profit-making in various developing
countries, but also in Europe and North America through P3s for
infrastructure projects. While structural adjustment programs had
largely functioned as austerity measures and accepted only as
conditions for accessing loans (with little to no choice), P3s in the US are portrayed as smart
options for building roads and such.
In the early 2000s, financial institutions began to arrange for public-private partnerships (including the reform of state laws to enable P3s) to fund infrastructure
projects in the US. These ranged from preservation and repair of old transportation
infrastructure to development of new infrastructure, specifically
trade corridors and transportation that would facilitate conurbation, such as intercity passenger rail. The
relationships between the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation (and other
Rockefeller institutions and individuals), JP Morgan
Chase, the Brookings Institution, and beyond is integral to this
direction. The projects that get completed will have more and more to do with what these elite institutions decide to arrange financing for.
The "Megapolitan" in particular was conceptualized in
the mid-2000s. It largely arose out of a graduate urban planning
studio at University of Pennsylvania School of Design in 2004 called "Plan for America" involving the Regional
Planning Association (RPA) and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
(with connections to the World Bank and close ties to the Brookings Institution). RPA and the Lincoln
Institute, sometimes along with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rockefeller Foundation, and/or the Ford Foundation
sponsored several more forums, conferences, studies and documents. Out of this came
America 2050 (funded by the Rockefeller Foundation through RPA, as well as the Ford Foundation), which is
a primary proponent of the megapolitan concept, along with high-speed
passenger rail.
Central to the definition and promotion of megapolitans and the Sun Corridor is
Robert E. Lang, originally of Virginia Tech, with fellowships through the Lincoln Institute of
Land Policy and the Brookings Institution and involvement in America
2050. He co-authored numerous papers on US megapolitans, as well as
the book Megapolitan America. Making the "Sun Corridor" a much more recognizable name, he worked with the
Morrison Institute (with Grady Gammage Jr.) on the Megapolitan:
Arizona's Sun Corridor while a
visiting professor at Arizona State University. Lang became a spokesperson for the
concept.
In 2008 when this Morrison report came out, the Arizona Republic printed an article in which Lang (with John Stuart Hall) revealed some of the primary reasons
for interest in the Sun Corridor:
Mega regions will be closely watched because of the
importance of more people to federal funding formulas (such as with
transportation), marketing targets and venture-capital options.
The Sun Corridor also has unique challenges. For example,
how state trust land will be developed is a critical wild card since
more than a quarter of the Sun Corridor is managed by the State Land
Department.
State Trust Land
In the context of a major drought, imagine a whole new city
of another million residents being planned south-east of Phoenix. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
has been particularly interested in state trust land reforms, notably
in Arizona for this project called the Superstition Vistas.
State trust land was provided to various states by the United States Congress for each state to lease or sell as a way to generate revenue to benefit public institutions such as schools. Currently, Arizona state law requires that parcels of land are sold at
auction to the highest bidder, making it nearly impossible for such a
large section of land to be purchased with one central plan in mind. Most of the planning
for Superstition Vistas dropped off due to the recession, but the land, or some of it, will likely be up for auction soon. The planning has taken place with the hopes that legal obstacles can be overcome.
Prior to the Sun Corridor report, the Morrison Institute (with
Lang and Gammage) was commissioned by the Superstition Vistas
steering committee for a study on the development of the land which
they published in 2006 (The
Treasure of the Superstitions). The steering
committee also brought in the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the so-called
conservation group, the Sonoran Institute based out of Tucson, around which time, the two groups created a joint venture.
Interest in this project and the involvement of Lang and the Lincoln Institute seems to have been integral to the advancement of the megapolitan concept and the Sun Corridor in particular. Characterizing the area as a megapolitan region could be used to justify a
development project like the Superstition Vistas and the necessary state trust land reforms, and accommodate
cross-boundary governance which could more easily bring in private
interests. Changes to the state trust land laws in Arizona would
facilitate other development and transportation infrastructure
projects, such as Interstate 11 connecting Las Vegas with Phoenix and
potentially beyond. According to Megapolitan:
Arizona's Sun Corridor,
"...this effort could become a model for
mega-scale thinking about state trust land and its role in the future
of Arizona."
To recap and add
some context, Robert Lang and the Lincoln Institute got involved in
the Superstition Vistas project around the time that Lang (with his
fellowship from the Lincoln Institute) was working on the megapolitan concept. The Morrison Institute Sun Corridor report was published two years after the Superstition Vistas report.
Also significant may be that in 2005, the Lincoln Institute hired a
new president, Gregory Ingram, who had worked for the World Bank and
International Finance Corporation (the World Bank's private arm that
is heavily involved in infrastructure investment). Ingram remained
president until 2012 and may have had influence on the direction of
the Institute in favor of the megapolitan concept. Also
significant is that the Arizona state land department Commissioner as
of 2012, Vanessa Hickman, sees importance in the success of
Superstition Vistas and is now also on Arizona's Transportation and Trade
Corridor Alliance (TTCA), a public/private entity that promotes the importance of "key commerce corridors"--essentially trade
infrastructure.
The Morrison
Institute reiterates
the importance of this land in their 2012 report. "The 2.4
million acres of State Trust Land that make up 18% of the total Sun
Corridor area will be critical to the future growth of the area."
Additionally, they emphasize the role of this land for high speed
rail. "It is possible to site a high speed rail line between Phoenix
and Tucson largely on state trust land. While there are considerable
legal challenges to this, the rewards would be substantial."
Freeways and High Speed Passenger Rail
The importance
of high speed rail (HSR) to the megapolitan and megaregion concepts
can not be overstated. It is difficult to determine whether rail-builders' interest was what
boosted the megapolitan idea, or if it is the megapolitan concept that requires the intercity rail. What is clear is that HSR would play a very important role in tying the urban areas together.
The Arizona Department of Transportation has a study in the works for a high speed passenger rail between Phoenix and Tucson. Of the three routes they’ve narrowed it down to, the eastern-most (orange) alternative runs right through the area some planners still hope will be the Superstition Vistas. The central (yellow) route could also serve this area.
The first of five objectives of the Sonoran Institute, one of the main promoters of the Superstition Vistas project, was to “promote a commuter rail system linking Phoenix and Tucson," according to their 2010 publication “Riding the Rails to Sustainability,” as part of their Sun Corridor Legacy Program.
While the best selling point for
megapolitan development is high speed passenger rail as an
alternative to driving, it is not as incompatible with new
highways as it's made to seem. Certain environmental non-profit
organizations citing research on megapolitans and population are
promoting studies that show a decreasing number of drivers and
therefore less need for new highways, and yet the megapolitan vision
requires new roads as well, particularly the important trade
corridors. Specifically, USPIRG and AZPIRG are funded by the
Rockefeller Foundation for their HSR projects, and their
publications reference America 2050, the primary promoter of the
megapolitan concept, which is also funded by the same foundation. Aside from
America 2050, most of the promoters of pairing the megapolitan
concept with passenger rail also see CANAMEX or trade corridors
in general as necessary endeavors.
While AZPIRG has solicited support for
their HSR campaign from groups opposing Interstate 11 and
the South Mountain Freeway, they likely will not join the opposition to these roads
themselves, other than releasing a report naming the I-11 as one of several money-wasting “boondoggles.” It may be lost on them that the Sun Corridor concept
justifies and even requires the trade corridor that I-11 would
become, and the truck bypass that the South Mountain Freeway/Loop 202
extension would provide. The megapolitan is nearly always portrayed
as an international trade hub, which requires massive multi-lane
roads for freight trucks. "A successful Interstate 11 will be a smartly designed multi-modal trade
corridor that yields multiple benefits for rural and underserved
communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border," is the opinion of the Sonoran Institute, or at least its Sun Corridor program director, who recently wrote in favor of the I-11. Dowdy lists rail specifically in an October 8th pro-I-11 commentary.
This is not the only mention of I-11 having multiple modes for transportation (and possibly for energy and even water). Potentially, the
excitement for HSR could inadvertently be used to facilitate an acceptance of I-11, even despite PIRG's portrayal of I-11 as a boondoggle in their vaguely pro-HSR report (the report is largely based on their Rockefeller Foundation-funded research by both PIRG and the Frontier Group including the more blatantly pro-HSR "A Track Record of Success"). In a September 29th letter to the editor from AZPIRG, the director
wrote, "We agree that 'this isn't about cars vs. transit' and that there
should
be a larger vision for an Intermountain West multi-modal corridor." The AECOM
Sun Corridor report states that there's a potential to share
right-of-way between rail and highway. Additionally, ADOT's
2011 Rail Plan (prepared in part by AECOM as a consultant,
including Mike Kies and John McNamara who are involved in the I-11
Study) stated, "The proposed Interstate [11] route may be
developed as a multimodal corridor, including freight rail, and is
part of the Canamex high priority corridor, which is envisioned to
include intercity or high-speed passenger rail service." Again,
even if the I-11 is not justified by pairing it with HSR, there is
demand for trade corridors with or without HSR.
from ADOT's State Rail Plan 2011
Due to issues with increased development contributing to pollution, the
urban heat island effect, increased water usage, impacts to wildlife,
displacement of people, and damage to South Mountain in the case of
the Loop 202 extension, the Sun Corridor's architects know that this
megapolitan idea will only be accepted if it can be portrayed as
“green”--as environmentally sustainable and responsible. But
there are many ways of making something appear green that really
isn't, such as can be seen with market-based mechanisms which
involve turning things into commodities such as carbon for trade.
Greenwashing is a term used to refer to the "unjustified
appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a
government, a politician or even a non-government organization to
create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy,"
according to SourceWatch.
This is not to imply that the benefits of HSR are enough to greenwash
trade corridor infrastructure. HSR also requires a certain amount of
greenwashing to justify itself. And this is not the only way that
paving over the land to make space for transportation will be
greenwashed.
High speed rail would not only be used to make the megapolitan or trade corridors acceptable. It supports the concept of the megapolitan as a node in international trade, it is meant to facilitate regional identity and economic integration, it is another piece of infrastructure that provides finance opportunities, and would contribute to the destruction caused by increased development. It is true that HSR makes sense to many in an era of diminishing oil. But the political and economic stability sought by having alternatives to oil-based transportation is meant to support commercial and financial productivity, not to save the planet.
That which primarily inspired early
proponents of HSR including Robert Lang to promote US megapolitans paired with HSR is the European model of regionalism and the ways
HSR facilitated economic integration (the EU) and regional identity. Lang and a couple of RPA/Lincoln Institute colleagues promoted HSR as
early as 2005, while most others (Brookings Institution, AECOM, PIRG,
and even Lincoln Institute as a whole) didn't pick up on it in any
significant way until 2009 when Obama promised billions of dollars in federal funds for HSR,
at which point the HSR lobby grew exponentially. State officials, but
especially the private sector, have gathered that alternative modes
of transportation are necessary and desired, yet profit is the underlying motivation. Legislation continues to be introduced to facilitate more HSR in the US. Rockefeller Foundation/America 2050's U.S.
High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program has made investments of
$10.1 billion in high-speed and conventional passenger rail corridors
across the country, according to a 2011
report. How much money would their associates (board members even?) stand to make from these projects?
Private-Sector Imposition
Most likely any high speed rail project in Arizona, if it gets built, will be a public-private partnership (P3), like many are in Europe. The way things are going, the
same could be said for roads as well. P3s can involve concession such
as rail fares or tolls on roads, but can in some cases allow for an
arrangement in which private companies can access financing that they
couldn't otherwise, in the form of low-interest federal loans,
tax-free bonds, and payments from tax-payers via local government.
P3s are more attractive to governments because the arrangements allow for getting transportation projects
finished without relying on the minimal government funding, although they often don’t work out in the public’s favor. The companies
themselves are interested in profit, and on a larger scale, financial
institutions are able to make money as well.
As described in More
than Bricks and Mortar, "Under PPPs, the private sector builds, finances and manages a
project in return for the government guaranteeing a revenue stream
from the project’s users (in the case of a toll road, for instance,
the government undertakes to pay should usage fall below a minimum
number of cars per day) and giving other contractual undertakings." The report explains that the situation has been described as a “'build now, pay later' scheme that
is 'no different from the credit card consumerism boom that
contributed to the global financial crisis.'" An illusion is created in which it seems that financing is coming from a private source, but in the end, taxpayers or service users are making the payments. Elsewhere, P3s are often compared to mortgages, and we've seen how well we can trust banks and the government to keep these debt-based transactions from impacting the broader economy.
Nearly any document promoting megapolitans and/or trade corridors
also touts P3s for their indispensable benefits, even including the
early megapolitan-related 2004 City Planning Studio/Lincoln Institute document, Toward an American Spatial Development Perspective. The
Brookings Institute in particular has been producing documents and
policy recommendations for P3s for years. The primary Brookings
document related to the Sun Corridor is by Robert Lang called
Mountain
Megas (2008).
As with many neoliberal-leaning institutions, the view is
that the federal government's role is to facilitate free-market
policies such as free trade. In chapter five of Brookings' Mountain
Megas document, entitled "Forging a New Federal-Mega Agenda
for the Intermountain West" which highlights the Sun Corridor,
the authors emphasize CANAMEX/I-11 and high speed passenger rail
along with P3s.
Brookings and other think tanks have had success in moving the federal government in the direction of P3s. The megapolitan/P3 project has increasingly been taken on by the federal government as shown by tax-breaks and other forms of corporate welfare, as well as providing resources for local governments to implement policy changes. Case in point is the September 9, 2014 announcement of the federal government’s Build America Investment Initiative, although this is not the first effort to promote P3s. According to Chadbourne.com,
The part of the President’s new initiative that could provide the
most immediate benefit is creation of a new office within the US
Department of Transportation called the Build America transportation
investment center. The center will open by November 14. The President
said it will serve as a “one-stop shop for cities and states seeking to
use innovative financing and partnerships with the private sector to
support transportation infrastructure.”
The center will play an informational role. It will make federal
resources more understandable and promote access to federal credit
assistance programs to help finance transportation infrastructure.
This initiative includes a joint investment between the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation of “over $1 million to support innovations in U.S. infrastructure. The new partnership will expand the infrastructure pipeline by incubating innovative public private collaborations, including... Provide seed capital for promising regional collaboration models, including regional infrastructure exchanges, that make it easier for localities to attract private finance…” “Regional” here likely implies megaregions or megapolitans.
It is worth noting that large foundations serve many roles. In addition
to acting as tax shelters, foundations often have political agendas
relating to the interests of their board members and/or the companies
they invest in. For example, there has been a long-standing relationship
between the Rockefeller Foundation and JP Morgan Chase. Many think of
foundations as simply a provider of charitable donations and grants to
non-profits. Tax law requires foundations to spend a minimum of 5% of their taxable assets on grants and administrative expenses,
which allows much of the rest to be invested. Foundations such as Ford
and Rockefeller are not politically neutral, but instead are particularly interested
in proliferating free-market capitalism, managing dissent, maintaining
economic and political stability, and strengthening US hegemony. They
are part of the power elite. Governance allows for participation not
just from the companies that foundations have relationships with, but
also from non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) who often do their
bidding--all with an appearance of being more democratic.
Another example of obvious involvement of the federal government is the Federal Highway Administration website and their promotion of megaregions such as in their Megaregions Report and literature review prepared by Catherine Ross (member of the National Committee for America 2050) in 2011. This,
along with their promotion of P3s, has likely resulted due to lobbying. Although it may appear as a more horizontal governance approach through
incentive funding and relaxation of current laws rather than top-down
state power, the intention is that private interests will benefit
from federal
government-given protectionism and subsidies. This is a variation of “actually-existing
neoliberalism,” a form that utilizes the state to allow the private
sector into decision-making and financing that it previously had little
access to. Governance facilitates an entry of the private sector into official decision-making such as for more infrastructure and more P3s. In the case of these types of governance structures, decisions tend to be made behind closed doors.
Brookings also promotes a new method of
governance. In their Mountain Megas report, they advocated for tweaking
Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) law and creating governance
structures such as the Joint Planning Advisory Council (see below),
and to incentivize other innovations in governance for megapolitans. This echos Lang's
early
writings on the megapolitan concept: "...new super MPOs
could result from future legislation that directs Megapolitan Areas
to plan on a vast new scale."
The junction of megapolitans/megaregions, governance, and P3s is rooted in "new regionalism," as Ross' FHWA report discusses:
...'new regionalism', proposes an institutional shift in
regional emphasis from government to governance, and emphasizes
public and private-sector partnerships and joint ventures... The new
institutional forms require a strong coordination of governments at
different scales, and public and private actors...The territorial and
functional reorganization of the power of the national government
means the changes of its boundaries in terms of roles, emphasizing
the coordination of the boundaries between public, private, and other
actors.
In this same report
it was argued that the Sun Corridor "will have to consider a
different form of governance, regional cooperation and infrastructure
investment that will promote its global perspective and shift the
paradigm to solidify it as a new geographic entity."
Described
as a milestone
in Sun Corridor efforts, a Joint Planning Advisory Council (JPAC) was
formed in 2009 by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the
Pima Association of Governments (PAG) and the Central Arizona
Association of Governments (CAAG). They are joined by their private
“partnering agencies," the Arizona Mexico Commission (a P3 unit that is said by their
CANAMEX expert to be the "godfather" of CANAMEX), the
CANAMEX Coalition (also a P3 unit), AECOM, and the Morrison
Institute.
Trade with Mexico
This same collaboration as initiated with
JPAC is considered highly important according to the NACTS
report, which the authors argued "should be implemented to
take advantage of international opportunities." NACTS, the
now-defunct ASU establishment, was an extension of the Security and
Prosperity Partnership via the Council of the Americas. They have been
a major proponent of NAFTA and the CANAMEX Trade Corridor and they
conceptualized the Sun Corridor as a multi-modal inland port.
CANAMEX
is a NAFTA trade corridor stretching from the western Mexican port of
Guaymas up through five US states to Alberta, Canada. Interstate 11 is
needed to create a better truck route between Las Vegas and Phoenix, but is intended to extend the length of the CANAMEX corridor or some variation on it
called the Intermountain West Corridor, therefore going through or near Tucson to Mexico (read more on the I-11 confusion at Filling in the I-11/CANAMEX Gaps). AECOM defines the Sun Corridor as a
piece of the CANAMEX Corridor and envisions the Sun Corridor as an inland port
with a strong trade relationship with Mexico. Their Sun
Corridor, Future Corridor report (2010) was written by AECOM
Global Cities Institute. One author was AECOM's John McNamara who is
now instrumental in the Interstate 11 Study and was involved in the
Arizona
Trade Corridor Study, an early CANAMEX document of 1993.
AECOM, which is one of the private
partners within JPAC, seems to have entered the megapolitan game when they got a board member on RPA in 2006 (Kevin S. Corbett, DMJM
Harris). They are involved in various types of transportation
infrastructure and P3s, including high speed passenger rail and roads,
the I-11 Study being only one of them. Just like
the Brookings Institution's Mountain Megas report, both AECOM in their Sun
Corridor, Future Corridor report (2010), and the Central Arizona Association of Governments (2011) prioritized
I-11/CANAMEX and high speed rail as central to the Sun Corridor
project.
The Sun Corridor and its position within the CANAMEX Corridor claim to provide business opportunities such as for the Casa Grande-based PhoenixMart, a massive wholesale trade center involving a foreign trade zone. Casa Grande is planning an "inland
port" involving proximity to one or
more Foreign
Trade Zones (FTZ) and increased rail infrastructure. FTZs and other such zones are being increasingly
created to provide incentives to big companies to do business in those areas,
allowing them to avoid paying certain taxes and fees. Last year, in "PhoenixMart seen as catalyst" Melissa St. Aude wrote (likely confusing the term megapolitan with megalopolis):
Casa Grande could someday be the epicenter of a sprawling Sun Corridor
megalopolis, spanning from Tucson to Phoenix. That was the vision given
Friday by PhoenixMart Chief Executive Officer Steve Betts and AZ Sourcing
President Jeremy Schoenfelder...
At the center of the megalopolis would be PhoenixMart, a nearly
2-million-square-foot sourcing center with 1,750 manufacturer showroom suites,
attracting wholesale buyers from around the world and triggering development of
various spin-off businesses ranging from hotels, restaurants and warehouses to
other services.
The promise of Arizona's economic growth has everything to do with trade with Mexico. As Albert Lannon of the Avra Valley Coalition pointed out, the I-11 Corridor Justification report use of certain projections to explain the benefits of the Interstate is telling.
The key words in the projections are “nearshoring” and “integrative
manufacturing.” The planners predict that, as Chinese wages rise, Mexico
will become more attractive to corporations. With U.S. manufacturing
labor costs at 100 on an ADOT index, China is 5 and Mexico 12. As “trade
with Mexico expands,” the report argues, so will “the current trend of
moving manufactured goods production … to Mexico. ... Mexico was the
most popular choice for nearshoring, where hourly compensation costs are
nearly as low as China.”
The report suggests “industry clusters”
and “integrative manufacturing” to house the making of parts in the
U.S., with assembly in Mexico. Kies told the stakeholders, “Mexico is
happening!”
The report discusses planned improvements at the
Mexican port of Guaymas for container traffic. That impacts high-paying
jobs in the West Coast stevedoring, trucking and warehouse industries.
The report discusses receiving even more goods from Asia as another
“alternative future scenario.
In their discussion of marketing I-11 to the public, the pitch is
“enhancing economic vitality” and “commercial opportunities.” I-11 is
being sold as a way for corporations to make more money. Period. There
is no expressed interest in workers except as cheap labor across the
border.
The Megaregion/megapolitan, due to its alleged promise of prosperity, is popping up everywhere, with different interests promoting varying concepts with a lack of coordination. Arizona and Sonoran government
officials recently signed a partnering agreement called the Arizona Sonora Binational Megaregion. One of their listed guiding principles is to "Use the
megaregion as a framework to further enable the development of local
relationships to advance projects/initiatives of regional
significance on both sides of the border in areas such as
transportation and infrastructure, education, economic development,
border security and public safety, trade area promotion, commerce and
tourism."
And there's also the Southwest Triangle
Megaregion, seemingly having everything to do with I-11. This specific megaregion is a new concept notably used in
the I-11 Study documents by AECOM and CH2MHill. The triangle
connects the Sun Corridor, Southern California Megapolitan, and Las
Vegas. Older plans for high-speed passenger rail making this same triangular connection
likely play a part in the creation of this megaregional
conceptualization. Additionally, some other people came up with the nearby Cali-Baja Binational Megaregion. Perhaps all of this will turn into the Southwest-Sonoran Trapezoid Mega-mega-region.
Somehow the logic of globalization does
not acknowledge the absurdity that the population growth in the Sun
Corridor is used to justify the area's role in global trade,
specifically NAFTA, even though it is policies like NAFTA that
have caused the displacement south of the border, leading to
migration and population growth in Arizona. The population projections for
the Sun Corridor are based on the growth of the region leading up to
the primary studies on the concept around the mid-2000's. More recent estimates show lower numbers but still project a few more million in the area by
2050. Pro-NAFTA institutions such as the Rockefeller Foundation,
Brookings Institution, NACTS, etc, would have us believe that we can
still expect trickle-down benefits from these sorts of trade
arrangements. We are to accept the idea that this the Sun Corridor should be a trade-hub, with its accompanying foreign trade zones allowing tax- and duty-free transactions for corporations.
Migration from
south of the border is a primary factor in local population growth and encouraging or embracing that growth through Megapolitan development would seem to hasten the likelihood that white people will become the minority, a rather silly concern. Nonetheless, Robert Lang dedicated a portion of his book, “Megapolitan America”
to easing the fears of white people about getting out-numbered. He
reasoned that the definition of whiteness is fluid and will be
expanded. There are a number of environmentalists who also concern
themselves with the ethnic and racial composition of population growth.
Recent history has shown us that
racists and xenophobes use environmental concerns to try to push
their population control policies, ranging from border security to
sterilization (not to mention the Rockefeller
Foundation's role in population control campaigns across the world).
The real problem with megapolitans in the context of
environmentalism is that they don't just accommodate population
growth, they encourage expansion and consumption on a mega scale. The infrastructure
and accompanying resource extraction are the much bigger problems.
Environmental Sustainability
A new study shows that Arizona may be amidst a mega-drought, depending on how the next couple decades go. Yet the Morrison Institute's 2012 Sun Corridor report describes the Sun Corridor as natural and organic. While they may see the ways that a tendency towards conurbation has occurred without much private or state intervention, a glaring omission of perspective is the basis upon which the settlement and urbanization occurred in the first place.
What isn't acknowledged is, for
example, "a coalition of lawyers,
businessmen, and politicians engaged in 'legal theft' to turn this
high desert, called Black Mesa, into one of America’s largest strip
mines. The energy from that coal would power the excesses of Las
Vegas and pump the Colorado River over three mountain ranges to
Phoenix as part of the Central Arizona Project, the world’s most
expensive water system," as described in a review
of Judith Nies new book "Unreal City." Also ignored is that Tucson as a settler city was able to survive and grow
due to the pumping of groundwater from the Tohono O'odham San Xavier
reservation, that O'odham water rights have been undermined, and that
their access to Central Arizona Project water was contingent on not
having the power to prevent more pumping and pollution (e.g. from
mining) of their groundwater.
The Morrison Institute
report, Watering the Sun Corridor, a follow-up to the original Sun Corridor document, contains concluding remarks that are
rather myopic, and pretty much racist, with this in mind. They write, "The Sun Corridor
exists only because past Arizonans worked together tirelessly to
build a vast, complex plumbing system. Using the power of government
to do this represented the clearest consensus imaginable about
serving the needs of society through collective action" (my emphasis). This
report is also laden with admissions of the limitations regarding
knowledge about whether the Sun Corridor area has enough water to
sustain it. Overall, it recommends proceeding with caution, and
attempts to legitimize the development even if it takes more drastic infrastructural changes to accommodate it, along with a few less swimming pools.
The impact of settler infrastructure projects on indigenous communities is not a thing of the past, but continues, for example in the building of roads like the South Mountain Freeway, which would be central to the junction of the Sun Corridor and the I-11 Las Vegas-Phoenix Corridor. Its function as a truck bypass would cut through the mountain sacred to the O'odham and cause damage to the environment and to health.
In addition to the impacts of global warming, the urban heat island effect, largely due to roads, will raise
temperatures. In one
study,
the researchers show "the intensification of observationally
based urban-induced phenomena and demonstrate that the direct
summer-time climate effects of the most rapidly expanding megapolitan
region in the USA—Arizona’s Sun Corridor—are considerable."
Can't we just paint all the roofs white to reduce the impact of the
heat island effect? Well, that might be nice if it didn't also
decrease rainfall by as much as an additional 4% on top of the 12%
from Sun Corridor growth as discussed in "Researchers
emphasize need for evaluation of tradeoffs in battling urban heat
islands."
Just like the impact of coal mining in northern Arizona has been overlooked, so too have repercussions of copper mining. Freeport McMoran, the largest copper producer, with various mines in Arizona (and elsewhere) and an office in downtown Phoenix, has interests in state trust lands; they're buying up farmland for water rights; and they're scheming
to gain access to more tribal water rights across Arizona. With one of the highest paid CEOs in the world, Freeport has finagled Arizona water legislation to allow them to pollute ground water (not to mention
what they've done in New Mexico). In January, Freeport hired the previous director
of the Arizona Department of Water Resources as their director of water
strategy.
Freeport is a major participant and sponsor of the Arizona-Mexico
Commission--self-identified as the god-father of the CANAMEX Corridor--most likely because of their interest in the Port of Guaymas. Mining requires an exorbitant amount of
water, yet individual residents will be made to feel guilty about how long
they shower.
