Sustainability
Reform of 1872 law would make Barrick, Newmont pay federal mineral royalties
The federal law designed to promote gold mining in the West was enacted by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, and it has remained mostly unchanged ever since. The General Mining Act of 1872 allows miners to obtain the rights to mine billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, copper and other minerals found in […]
Nevada group to push climate crisis as a top issue of 2020 race
On Wednesday, the League of Conservation Voters announced a $2 million nationwide campaign titled “Change the Climate 2020” that seeks to elevate climate action as a key issue of the 2020 presidential primary. The campaign has begun organizing in early primary and caucus states, including Nevada. According to Nevada Conservation League Executive Director Andy Maggi, […]
Lee, Titus condemn $1 wild horse sale
Nevada Democratic Reps. Susie Lee and Dina Titus signed on to a letter Monday objecting to the U.S. Forest Service’s impending plan to sell federally protected wild horses “without restrictions on slaughter.” Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a bipartisan letter signed by 64 members of Congress, including Titus and Lee, to the chief of the […]
House passes climate bill in a rebuke to Trump
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday approved legislation that would force the administration to remain in the Paris climate accord, despite President Trump’s plans to exit the pact. The bill from Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) was passed largely along party lines by a vote of 231-190. Three Republicans broke ranks to support the measure, […]
“We don’t even produce nuclear energy” – Nevada senators fight Yucca at hearing
Nevada senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen testified against the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2019 during a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) Tuesday. The measure would restart the process of attempting to license nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain. Cortez Masto told the committee […]
Al Gore’s inconvenient truth: Summer is coming
The next time Donald Trump is tempted to bemoan climate change as a hoax, the president need look no further than the “caravans” of migrants seeking refuge in the United States. So said former U.S. Vice President Al Gore — in so many words — when he addressed a crowd of more than 1,200 Tuesday […]
DOE to remove plutonium by 2026; Cortez Masto thanks Perry, lifts holds on nominees
Tuesday, U.S Senator Catherine Cortez Masto announced she would lift her hold on all Department of Energy nominees after reaching an agreement to remove a half ton of plutonium from Nevada with Energy Secretary Rick Perry who she previously said acted “in bad faith” and says “one thing and does another.” “So that tells me […]
Sisolak reiterates state’s opposition as Senate panel takes up Yucca
On the eve of a U.S. Senate hearing on draft legislation to designate Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear waste repository, Gov. Steve Sisolak is reiterating the state’s long standing opposition to burying spent fuel 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. “My position, and that of the State of Nevada, remains identical to the […]
How climate change is hitting communities of color the hardest
Researchers have long noted disparities in pollution impacts: climate change hits people of color the hardest. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto met with Chispa Nevada and activists this week to hear from, and highlight, voices who have traditionally been left behind in climate change politics and policy. The socioeconomically disproportionate impacts of pollution have driven environmental […]
Las Vegas is getting hotter faster than any other city in country
Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the country, according to the research group Climate Central. According to the new report, released Monday on Earth Day, Las Vegas has warmed 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. That’s more than any other city in the United States. Rounding out the top five fastest-warming cities were El Paso […]
Now do mining
If gold mines were coal mines, new Nevada clean energy standards would not have been signed into law Monday. Nevada has been blessed (or cursed, if you’re a fossil fuel enthusiast) with negligible fossil fuel resources. The coal and oil industries don’t muscle politicians around in Nevada. That what the gold industry is for. Via […]
Inslee says climate change is “job one,” calls for “consensus” on nuclear waste
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee toured the Copper Mountain Solar 3 Facility just outside Boulder City on Monday in his bid for the Democratic nomination for president as he continues his “Climate Mission Tour.” In a Democratic field that spans dozens of candidates — including several well known names — the relatively unknown Washington governor has […]