Executive Director, Arizona PIRG
Started on staff: 1985
B.S., Springfield College; M.Ed., Springfield College
Diane E. Brown has worked with the State PIRGs for over 35 years, over half serving as the Executive Director of Arizona PIRG. She is a leader in efforts to protect consumers from unfair marketplace abuses and unsafe products; promote 21st century energy and transportation options; and foster an accessible and accountable government.
Diane frequently works with diverse entities; advocates and testifies before elected and governmental officials; and appears on television and radio and in newspapers across the state. Diane’s leadership has helped to secure public interest victories at the Arizona Legislature, the Arizona Corporation Commission, and various state agencies.
Diane is a recipient of awards from the Arizona Capitol Times, Phoenix Business Journal, League of Women Voters of Arizona, and Arizona League of Conservation Voters.
When the COVID-19 pandemic turned life upside down in early 2020 and commercial flights came to a near-halt, the U.S. government gave the airline industry $50 billion. Since then, despite surviving because of tax dollars, the airlines repeatedly have canceled and delayed flights, denied refunds and failed at customer service, according to complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
According to the Arizona PIRG Education Fund, it is not always easy to determine whether a gift is safe or not, especially online, when you can’t inspect the item and it may be mislabeled, or missing a warning, such as a recall notice. Thus far in 2021, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recalled 13 toys. The recalled toys posed risks including high levels of lead, potential ingestion by a child, and small parts from easily broken toys.
After two years of deliberations, today the Arizona Corporation Commission voted to adopt a rule that sets a series of policies in place related to when electric and gas utilities in Arizona can disconnect a customer’s service in the summer.
Pima Residents 18+: Take a brief anonymous survey right now about the COVID-19 vaccine. Timed to coincide with the upcoming vaccine clinics on Pima Community College campuses and prompted by lower vaccination rates among young people, students with PIRG Campus Action and the Arizona Public Interest Research Group (Arizona PIRG) Education Fund have escalated their campaign urging more students at PCC to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the Arizona PIRG Education Fund and Wildfire: Igniting Community Action to End Poverty in Arizona, the elected Salt River Project Board of Directors today failed SRP customers by approving 16 gas units at the cost of approximately $1 billion dollars without proper scrutiny.
