Sustainability
Science sidelined at Interior, House panel told
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has been sidelining researchers and suppressing climate change science at the U.S. Interior Department, experts warned Congress this week. A climate change scientist and a former senior executive staffer at the Interior Department told the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Thursday that their work on climate change […]
Experts urge ‘Apollo-type’ fight against climate disaster; GOP pushes Yucca
WASHINGTON — Climate change could cost Americans billions of dollars, destroy coastal communities and put agriculture, healthcare and military facilities at risk unless the government acts swiftly, experts warned Congress Wednesday. Business leaders, health experts and former military commanders warned the U.S. House Budget Committee of impending disaster if there is no plan to address […]
Trump team’s relocation plan will make BLM an industry servant, critics warn
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration revealed sweeping plans this week to dismantle and disperse the Bureau of Land Management, sending its current headquarters staff to more than half a dozen offices across the Western states, including Nevada, while establishing a small new headquarters office in Grand Junction, Colorado. The massive reorganization, as outlined in a […]
Invasive grass increases wildfire threat in western states
This story was originally published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. After a wet spring, Western states are experiencing a massive bloom of cheatgrass, a yellowish, knee-high and highly flammable grass that carpets rangelands across 13 states. In Nevada, samples show up to 3,000 pounds of the invasive plant growing per acre, […]
ARCO feuds with rural residents over bottled water program
YERINGTON – Members of the Yerington Paiute Tribe whose well water has been contaminated with high levels of uranium may soon lose their source of free bottled drinking water. The tribe is about 2 miles north of the abandoned Anaconda Copper Mine, byproducts of the copper-mining process from the mine are responsible for contaminating the […]
Electric school buses funded, but at a fraction of what advocates wanted
Now there’s some money to go with state legislation designed to help school districts electrify school buses, but it’s far less than what advocates fought for. Several environmental groups called for $3 million to $4 million to be set aside from the legislatively created Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration (EVID) program to cover the cost of purchasing […]
No lithium boom yet, but boom in stories about lithium boom going strong
Every few weeks, there it is. A story about the exciting boom in Nevada lithium production that is just around the corner. With all those lithium batteries in phones and laptops and tablets and even cars, it’s only a matter of time before Nevada lithium takes off. Or so the story goes. The latest entry […]
Cortez Masto wants to shrink schools’ carbon footprints
WASHINGTON — Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) introduced legislation Tuesday that seeks to upgrade infrastructure and reduce emissions at public schools. Her bill, the Renew America’s Schools Act, would create a federal grant program through the U.S. Department of Energy to provide $100 million annually for five years for energy efficiency improvements at K-12 […]
Federal bill would fund electric school buses
New federal legislation would support the electrification of school buses in low-income communities. The Clean School Bus Act would assist school districts around the country in replacing traditional diesel school buses with new, electric buses in order to mitigate students’ and drivers’ exposure to harmful pollutants and help address the climate crisis. U.S. Senator Kamala […]
If Nevada was a country…
Nevada gold production was down slightly in 2018, but the price was up, and Nevada produced 83 percent of all U.S. gold production, according to a release from the state Division of Minerals. If Nevada was a country, it would have been the world’s fifth largest gold producer, behind China, Russia, Australia, and Canada. Of […]
Cortez Masto prods Trump nominee to wade into tussle over wildlife refuge
WASHINGTON — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) pressed a Trump administration nominee on Wednesday to weigh in on a controversial plan that would downsize Nevada’s Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Cortez Masto pushed to secure a commitment from Robert Wallace — Trump’s pick to be the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks — […]
Hotter summers leading to more Las Vegas deaths, DRI study says
Heat-related deaths in Clark County have significantly increased over the last few years, in large part due to the rise in extreme heat, according to a new study. Research by faculty and undergraduate students at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Nevada State College, and Universidad de Las Americas Puebla identifies a clear correlation between more […]