Urging people in the audience to read the climate pact, Miller warned that it’s “killing the economy of the U.S.”

“We can try to make ourselves believe that we are going to be better off when we have a lot of people unemployed and jobs are leaving us,” Miller said.

UA climate scientist Diana Liverman disagreed, telling the board, “We should do everything we can in Pima County to avoid the very serious risks of climate change.”

Liverman said she worked on a 2015 study on climate and poverty in Southern Arizona that found hundreds of thousands of residents must decide whether to heat and cool their homes or feed their children. “If they can’t afford to cool their homes when it’s 110 degrees, it’s going to have really serious effects on children, on their health,” she said.

Costs unknown

While the cost for all the county climate projects is unknown, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the county has already budgeted for some of them. Many will ultimately more than repay their initial investment in energy savings, he said.