Lake Mead, Nevada, July 2014. (Photo by James Marvin Phelps)
Nevada is so parched that even rain and snow brought by this winter’s El Niño haven’t been able to replenish reservoirs and rangelands. More than 90 percent of Nevada voters say low water supplies are a serious problem for the state, and 58 percent identify climate change as a pressing concern. After four years of record-breaking drought, it’s no surprise residents are alarmed about extreme weather.
Yet as the Silver State prepares for the GOP caucus on Tuesday, none of the Republican presidential candidates has offered a plan for confronting climate change. They refuse to address this threat to Nevada’s economy and public health. Instead, they discount it or deny it.
GOP candidates are turning their backs while Nevadans are feeling the brunt of a changing climate.
Nevada is no stranger to intense weather, but climate change is fueling even more extremes. A new study found that a “normal” year of rain and snow in the Southwest is now 25 percent drier than before the 1970s. And the amount of precipitation falling as snow in Lake Tahoe has dropped from about 50 percent in 1910 to just 36 percent in 2012.
These shifts have major implications for people’s livelihoods. Agriculture, particularly livestock production, is an important way of life in the state and a lifeline for rural towns. Yet many communities rely on snow-fed rivers to grow crops and raise cattle. Last year the Sierra Nevada Mountains had the lowest snowpack in 500 years. In 2014, the entire state was designated a primary natural disaster area because of the meager snowpack.
El Nino is building up the snow pack again, but Lake Mead and Lake Tahoeare still below average levels. Scientists recently said the state remains in drought as a result of “a gaping deficiency in water supply.” Las Vegas has coped by embracing impressive conservation measures, but researchers say climate change will continue to fuel “severe and sustained drought.”
They also estimate that Southern Nevada will see temperatures rise by up to 8 degrees in the next century. Longer, hotter summers will increase ozone pollution in the Las Vegas Valley?—?home to 2 million people and visited by 40 million each year. Ozone is linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Nevada saw 2,700 hospital admissions for asthma in 2011, and each stay cost an average of $31,000.
The state is starting to embrace one of the most effective tools for cleaning up this dangerous pollution and tackling climate change: renewable power. Nearly 75 percent of Nevada voters want the government to promote wind and solar energy.
Republican Governor Brian Sandoval agrees, saying, “Our commitment to renewable energy has added $5.5 billion to our economy in the last five years. I am committed to the continued development of Nevada’s energy resources by removing barriers and developing better business models that benefit our ratepayers.” Last Tuesday, Sandoval joined 16 other governors in signing The Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future to promote clean power.
This commitment to clean energy has plenty of support around the state. The City of Las Vegas announced it would transition to 100 percent renewable energy for city operations by 2017, and Nellis Air Force Base powers its daytime operations with 100 percent solar energy. Yet there is more that the state can and should do to scale up energy efficiency and renewable energy, including reforming actions recently taken by Nevada’s utility regulators that make it harder for Nevadans to put solar panels on their roofs.
Most Republican presidential candidates, meanwhile, have vowed to block policies that promote renewable energy.
Senator Ted Cruz voted against extending incentives for wind and solar production. Donald Trump has barely spoken about clean power, though he did say recently, “Windmills look nice, but they kill a lot of birds.” Senator Marco Rubio opted out of voting for several clean energy incentives, but hascalled for deregulating oil and gas drilling, fast-tracking offshore drilling and natural gas exports, and offering other fossil-fuel friendly giveaways.
These positions are out of step with what most Nevadans want. They deserve a leader who will support the state’s clean energy economy and help shield Nevada from unchecked climate change.