Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Clark County needs to do more to combat climate change, including hiring a sustainability manager and adopting a climate action plan, Commissioner Justin Jones said.
“The state of Nevada is really making a major commitment from the top to the bottom to sustainability and addressing climate change in a meaningful way,” Jones said at a meeting Tuesday. “I think there are some serious opportunities for we at the County Commission to step up and make sure we are making these same commitments.”
According to a report by Climate Central, a nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, Las Vegas is the third-fastest warming city in the United States. Last month was the second-hottest August on record in Las Vegas, with 24 days of temperatures over 105 degrees.
Jones said the county should better implement a 2008 plan that addressed issues such as air quality and created an Office of Sustainability along with a full-time manager’s position, which was subsequently eliminated.
“For a time, it was fairly well implemented but through a recession and some staff turnover, I don’t think it was ever implemented in the way that was first envisioned,” he said.
Jones proposed filling the manager’s position within three months, auditing the county’s sustainability efforts within the next six months and adopting a climate action plan similar to one adopted by Reno within a year.
He also said the county should join the County Climate Coalition, which encourages counties to uphold the goals of the United Nations Paris Agreement to reduce carbon emissions and slow the rise of global temperatures.
Jones requested that the county also adopt a climate action plan, similar to the one Reno adopted earlier this month. (That's below.)
The commission did not take any action on the proposal.
