The Arizona Senate president will visit the White House next week to discuss Environmental Protection Agency policies that he says are hurting the state and its businesses.
Sen. Warren Petersen, the Gilbert resident who leads the chamber's Republican majority, said he will meet with Attorney General Pam Bondi and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. He plans to talk to Bondi about matters such as the illegal immigration that local law enforcement and communities are battling. Petersen will discuss Arizona's gas prices and other topics with Zeldin.
“We can be good stewards of the environment, but we don’t have to do some of these crazy policies that they have,” Petersen told The Center Square Wednesday during an interview that covered topics ranging from border security to proof of citizenship for voter registration.
The costs posed by the EPA have long been on Petersen’s mind.
In 2024, Petersen and Republican House Speaker Ben Toma joined the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry in suing the Biden administration for an air quality rule that the plaintiffs warned would hurt small businesses and halt construction of infrastructure and manufacturing facilities.
Later that year, Petersen, Toma and the Arizona Trucking Association sued the Biden administration over what they said were costly electric-vehicle mandates that would threaten the state’s power supply.
