Friday, Sept. 24, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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I came to the United States from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, as a child and have lived in Las Vegas since then. This is the only home I have ever known and I have created community bonds with friends and neighbors.
Sadly, many in my community live in fear because they are still undocumented citizens who live in a constant state of limbo and concern that they could be sent out of this country at a moment’s notice, bringing economic instability upon their families. This state of being is unfortunately felt by too many Nevadans and immigrants nationwide — and it is compounded by the fact that my community is also at the forefront of life-threatening and immediate impacts of climate change.
Nevada is one of the fastest-warming states in the nation. The Las Vegas Valley is a delicate environment that is being decimated as the climate-fueled drought continues to dry up Lake Mead and temperatures in the region soar. The source of our water, the great Colorado River, has been at the center of Latino life for centuries, and that sacred water is under threat due to decades of overuse from more white, affluent communities and agriculture interests taking more than their fair share. Much of the water shortages are also due to the perfect storm of increasing demand due to population growth and extreme drought over the past several years. On top of that, water shortages can be attributed to heat-driven evaporation — heat that has been exacerbated by the pollution spewed daily by corporations, fossil fuel power plants and gas-powered vehicles.
But the effects of this dryer, hotter climatic shift are not felt equally. My family, neighbors and the many people nationwide whose origin stories bear a resemblance to mine are suffering. We are unable to afford to adapt as easily to water shortages, working in increasingly hot temperatures outside, and are falling ill in outsized numbers compared with higher-income communities because there is more air pollution in our neighborhoods. Aging communities in the historic Westside, central, east, and North Las Vegas, communities with higher concentrations of people of color, are finding themselves split by huge interstates and residing in the middle of heat islands. The recent Breathe Free NV report released in collaboration with our partners found that cutting carbon pollution and substantially increasing our reliance upon renewable energy would drastically improve our health.
So how do we get ourselves off this heat island? It’s going to take courageous climate action from our federal, state and local governments. Thankfully for Nevadans, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen have taken some bold first steps toward prioritizing justice and equity for frontline communities most affected by the climate crisis by voting for the bipartisan infrastructure deal that cleared the Senate and now is under consideration in the House.
While Congress continues to discuss more ways to address climate change, senators and representatives from Nevada must go bigger and bolder, acting with urgency to ensure that the Black, brown and aging communities in the Las Vegas Valley are positioned to have the resources needed to transition away from dirty fossil fuel resources like natural gas. The future of Nevada will depend on the actions taken by Congress in the coming weeks. Will we be forced not only to suffer the consequences of climate change but also miss the boat on the economic opportunities that acting swiftly could afford? Or will we rise to the moment and take action to stem the effects of climate change while putting tens of thousands of our residents to work?
Latino communities aren’t new to the idea of conservation. They have been recycling, reducing and reusing for decades. It is something intrinsic to our culture and our way of life — our communities know that we cannot afford to waste our resources. But we cannot solve these systemic challenges with just individual action. We call on our Southern Nevada congressional leaders — Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford — to go big and invest directly into frontline communities like mine, which for years have been left behind and not benefited from clean energy initiatives or investment in new, innovative infrastructure. Our futures rely upon it. To join the fight, help us at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.
Jose Silva is the climate justice organizer at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, where he organizes with frontline communities and directly affected leaders to build a more fair and just Nevada that puts people and planet first.
