Nevada
After scrapping Sisolak’s climate plan, Lombardo releases his own
Almost two years after Gov. Joe Lombardo scrapped his Democratic predecessor’s statewide plan to address climate change, he released a shorter version this week that emphasizes Nevada’s mining industry and promotes clean energy.
The 33-page “Climate Innovation Plan” focuses on Nevada’s production of minerals needed to transition away from fossil fuels and the removal of federal red tape for clean energy projects. It’s much different from former Gov. Steve Sisolak’s 255-page plan, no longer available on the internet, that set clearer carbon emission reduction goals.
In a statement released online, Lombardo said the document addresses Nevada’s changing climate in a way that considers the economy and national security.
“By harnessing clean energy, improving energy efficiency, and fostering economic growth, we’re establishing Nevada as a leader in climate solutions,” Lombardo said. “By addressing these environmental challenges locally, we’re able to strengthen the future of our state for generations to come.”
The plan has drawn the ire of Nevada Democrats and some environmentalists who say it lacks a clear vision for combating climate change in what climate scientists say is the nation’s driest state with the two fastest-warming cities.
Lombardo also pulled Nevada from the multi-state U.S. Climate Alliance last July. Nevada’s state climatologist, Tom Albright, said he wasn’t consulted in the planning process.
The governor’s spokeswoman declined to make him available for an interview but said in a statement that the plan focused on “reducing carbon emissions without providing an unrealistic timeline for reduction.” Environmental stewardship isn’t a partisan issue, she added.
Gemma Smith, an Arizona State University public policy professor, said Nevada having a climate change mitigation plan at all is a positive. While cities and counties can put forth goals at the local level — like the All-In Clark County Plan — some issues require a statewide lens, such as policy encouraging the use of electric vehicles, she said.
But including no distinct data is to the new plan’s detriment, Smith said, especially when compared with Sisolak’s more comprehensive plan.
“It’s quite difficult to evaluate the new Nevada climate plan from a scientific or a policy perspective because it doesn’t really outline specific metrics or goals,” Smith said. “Still, there needs to be some sort of unifying vision.”
Sisolak said he had not yet read the new plan in full.
“It’s a step back from what we did,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday. “We wanted something that could be measured and quantified, but he decided to go in a different direction.”
Assembly Minority Leader Philip P.K. O’Neill, R-Carson City, said in a brief phone interview that Lombardo’s plan corrects Sisolak’s lofty plan — a clear overreach of government, in his view.
“This brings things back into reality,” he said. “It’s attainable and realistic.”
How do these plans compare?
Aside from helping clean energy projects go live faster and advocating for Nevada to produce important minerals such as lithium, used in electric vehicle batteries, Lombardo’s plan discusses managing wildfire threats and the agriculture industry’s efforts to sequester carbon, where carbon dioxide is stored in soil.
After listing seven goals, Lombardo’s plan lists dozens of initiatives already in motion, including various grants and ongoing programs like PFAS monitoring in the state’s water, efforts to establish more electric vehicle charging stations, and Nevada’s role in continued Colorado River negotiations.
It mentions Nevada’s contract with NZero, a green tech company that a ProPublica investigation found secured millions in government contracts without delivering carbon emission data it had promised.
Sisolak’s plan more heavily relied on citing available science and community engagement, consulting more than 1,500 people across the state via listening sessions.
The document notably spoke of how Nevada would work to implement Senate Bill 254, which set carbon emission reduction goals: 28 percent by 2025, 45 percent by 2030, and net-zero — or near-zero — by 2050.
Criticism and praise
Some Democratic legislators like Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager took to social media to express their disappointment in the plan, which they think takes credit for some of the work put in motion under the Sisolak administration.
“If one of my students submitted an essay like this ‘climate plan,’ I would give it back to be rewritten,” wrote La Rue Hatch, a public schoolteacher in Washoe County who serves on the Legislature’s Joint Interim Natural Resources Committee. “Even my students know that taking credit for the work of others and offering vague statements with zero evidence to support them is not good enough.”
Attempts to reach the three Republican members of the committee Thursday were unsuccessful.
Doing everything in Nevada’s power to shorten timelines for new mining and energy projects on public land is important to the state’s much hotter future, O’Neill said.
It’s the same environmentalists who take green energy companies to court that are calling for emissions to be reduced, he said.
“Then they’ll turn around and say, ‘Hey, we need green energy,’” O’Neill said. “You can’t have it both ways.”
The Nevada Clean Energy Fund did not respond to a request for comment about the governor’s push to fast-track mining and clean energy. A Nevada Mining Association spokeswoman said the group’s president, Amanda Hilton, was not available to comment Thursday.
Environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Nevada Conservation League weighed in on the plan, characterizing it as one without an accountability function.
“We’re gutted to see Governor Lombardo publish his alleged ‘Climate Innovation Plan’ without consultation or collaboration from the everyday people he represents, community organizations and conservation leaders in Nevada,” said Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, the Nevada Conservation League’s deputy director.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
The expected vote is the total number of votes that are expected in a given race once all votes are counted. This number is an estimate and is based on several different factors, including information on the number of votes cast early as well as information provided to our vote reporters on Election Day from county election officials. The figure can change as NBC News gathers new information.
Source: Vote data via the Associated Press. Projections by the NBC News Decision Desk.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevadans are choosing their party nominees Tuesday for two closely watched congressional seats and the governor’s race, among others, as the state grapples with an affordable housing shortage, exploding energy demand from data centers and federal cuts to key state programs.
The state has a closed primary, meaning only registered Democrats and Republicans will vote in party contests after an effort to open them up failed in 2024.
Several primaries feature matchups between candidates backed by party leaders and political outsiders promising change. Come November, the governor’s race is considered one of the most competitive in the country, and holding on to the 3rd Congressional District is considered crucial for Democrats’ hope of retaking the U.S. House.
Here’s a look at the most prominent races:
Democrats seek a rival for Lombardo
Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, is considered one of the most vulnerable governors in the country this fall.
The Democrats vying to challenge him include state Attorney General Aaron Ford, who has the backing of the Democratic congressional delegation and former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Alexis Hill, a county commissioner in northern Nevada who campaigned as a candidate willing to shake things up.
They focused their campaigns on affordability, as the state continues to see a shortage of affordable housing, some of the highest gas prices in the country and cuts to federal healthcare and food assistance programs.
Ford largely ignored Hill, instead directing his attacks at Lombardo and arguing that both the governor and Trump are responsible for Nevadans’ economic woes. He is trying to become Nevada’s first Black governor.
2nd Congressional District
In the Republican contest to replace longtime Rep. Mark Amodei, who is retiring, President Donald Trump has endorsed David Flippo, a loyalist of the president who has never held elected office. Amodei and Lombardo have backed James Settelmeyer, a former state senator with a long political track record.
The district covers northern Nevada and includes Reno and Carson City, the capital, along with an immense rural expanse.
Trump-endorsed candidates have seen successful in primaries elsewhere, underscoring his unrivaled power over the Republican Party as he enters the last years of his presidency. He easily won the district in the 2024 presidential election.
The GOP nominee has a good chance of winning in November, as registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by 70,000 in the 2nd District. A Republican has held the seat since the district was created in the 1980s.
Still, Democrats hope to entice the large number of nonpartisan voters in the district this fall. Their candidates include Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former majority floor leader of the Nevada Assembly, and Greg Kidd, an investor who ran in the last cycle as a nonpartisan.
3rd Congressional District
Nevada’s other three members of Congress, all Democrats, are expected to win their primaries easily.
In the 3rd District, Republicans are battling to determine who will face Democratic Rep. Susie Lee in what is considered the most competitive congressional district in Nevada because of its narrow Democratic registration advantage, its high number of nonpartisan voters and a history of razor-thin election margins. In 2024 both Lee and Trump won narrowly.
Candidates include Trump-backed Marty O’Donnell, a composer who worked on the “Halo” video game series and ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2024; Jeff Gunter, a dermatologist and former ambassador to Iceland; neurosurgeon Aury Nagy; and businessperson Tera Anderson.
The candidates ran on border security, energy independence and decreasing the federal debt.
Attorney general
With Ford term-limited and running for governor, the opening has prompted competitive primaries for the state’s top law enforcement post.
The Democratic side features state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Treasurer Zach Conine. Both campaigned on promises to take on the Trump administration, following in the footsteps of Ford, who filed numerous lawsuits against the federal government.
For the Republicans, Trump-backed attorney Adriana Guzmán Fralick faces Douglas County commissioner Danny Tarkanian. Tarkanian, son of legendary University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, previously ran unsuccessfully in multiple congressional races.
Both candidates campaigned on “election integrity,” casting doubt on voting security. Nevada is one of the swing states in which Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen, despite officials finding no evidence of widespread fraud.
Tarkanian promised to investigate voter fraud allegations, while Guzmán Fralick vowed to seek passage of the SAVE Nevada Act, which would be similar to changes Trump has sought at the federal level.
Her legislation would require all votes to be counted on Election Day, end universal mail ballots and eliminate automatic voter registration. It would almost certainly hit a dead end in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
GOP secretary of state candidates question Nevada’s elections
Several Republicans are running for secretary of state, the office that oversees elections, including some who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. The winner of the primary will take on Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar.
The GOP candidates include Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker and perennial candidate who has said the 2020 election “was probably stolen”; Sharron Angle, a former state lawmaker who was part of an effort to block the certification of Nevada’s 2020 election results; and Shirley Folkins-Roberts, an attorney who received Lombardo’s endorsement and has denied there is widespread fraud in Nevada’s elections.
All the candidates support implementing voter ID, which will be on the ballot for the second time in November after the question passed by a wide margin in 2024.
Angle promises to enforce voter ID if voters pass it and supports Trump’s executive order seeking to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote. The courts have so far halted that order, issued last year, from taking effect.
Marchant wants to eliminate electronic voting machines and end the state’s universal mail ballot system. He also wants to require paper ballots, which would be counted by hand, according to his campaign website.
Folkins-Roberts said she will work to keep voter rolls accurate and up-to-date, require voter ID and ensure that election results are delivered on time. She also wants to reverse the automatic voter registration system. In an interview with News 4 Reno, Folkins-Roberts said she believes Nevada’s elections are “good,” but wants to improve voters’ confidence by making changes.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — We’ll start the week with a heightened fire danger with dangerous heat later this week.
TODAY
Expect mostly sunny skies with winds picking up again on Monday. High temperatures will reach 98 degrees in Las Vegas with south winds 10-20 mph and wind gusts up to 30 mph.
A RED FLAG WARNING is in place from 10am to 9pm Monday for gusty winds and dry weather, so if a fire started, it would spread quickly.
Winds are estimated to be 20-25 mph with gusts around 40 mph at times with relative humidity of 5%-15%.
Air quality is ranked ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ for dust and tree pollen. The most common pollens are juniper, cedar, willow, sycamore and palm.
TONIGHT
We’ll see variable clouds this evening with skies going from mostly cloudy to mostly clear overnight.
Wind gusts will pick up again before midnight with gusts 30-40 mph possible downslope of the Spring Mountains in the west valley.
Elsewhere, gusts will be 20-30 mph. Breezes will eventually back down to 5-15 mph overnight. Valley lows will drop to around 74 degrees.
WHAT’S NEXT
We have reached 109 consecutive days without measurable rain in Las Vegas.
No rain is in sight, but for perspective, June is the driest month of the year in Las Vegas. Fingers crossed on a hopefully more active monsoon season!
High pressure builds next with highs 5-10 degrees above normal. Temperatures will reach around 108 degrees in Las Vegas by Friday. The last time we hit a high temperature of 108 degrees was back on August 20th of last year.
Not much relief is in sight by the weekend with highs around 107 degrees and temps at or above 105-106 degrees NEXT Monday through Wednesday.
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