A haze hangs over Lake Mead in this July 31, 2018, photo. The Clark County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt the All-In Community Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, which focuses on bolstering renewable energy and community health, among other actions.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Addressing climate change
The Clark County Commission adopted a comprehensive plan Tuesday aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing the region for the effects of climate change.
The commission voted unanimously to adopt the All-In Community Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, which focuses on bolstering renewable energy and community health, updating transportation and solid waste management, adopting more energy-efficient building standards and a more sustainable water management system.
Marci Henson, the director of the county’s Department of Environment and Sustainability, said requiring energy-efficient appliances in new and existing buildings, switching to renewable energy, replacing county vehicle fleets with electric vehicles and reducing landfill emissions could meet the county’s overall goal of reducing emissions by 72%.
"The rest, we’re counting on new strategies, and (the 28%) will be achieved through additional iterations of this plan as technologies improve and as we gain more public support for the actions necessary to get to net-zero," Henson said.
Jodi Bechtel, the assistant director of the Department of Environment and Sustainability, said her department had been working on the plan since October 2019, when the commission joined the County Climate Coalition. Counties in the coalition adopt policies in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
She said the department worked with almost 130 stakeholder groups, including local governments, tribes, environmental experts, faith leaders and experts in transportation, energy and waste among others.
Bechtel said the commission adopted a climate plan for county facilities in December 2021. After that, the department set its sights on updating the 2014 greenhouse gas emissions inventory conducted by the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition. The inventory breaks down emissions from each municipality in the county.
The department also conducted a climate vulnerability assessment, which it published last year. Bechtel said the assessment delved into the immediate effects of climate change on the county.
"This community is no stranger to drought," Bechtel said. "We have more intense storms, less rainfall, but more intense microbursts that we experience, regional wildfire, windy days like today, an increase in the number of high wind events … as well as an increase in extreme heat."
She said she expected the number of days over 100 degrees in Clark County to increase tenfold by the end of the century.
"Given all of that, we recognize the time to act is now," Bechtel said.
Advocates spoke in favor of the plan but urged officials to make sure low-income residents wouldn’t be left out.
Mary House, CEO of the nonprofit Caring Helping & Restoring Lives Inc., said her organization worked with low-income residents who are most likely to live near high-traffic areas, live in homes with older gas appliances and drive older cars with worse emissions.
"As a result, these families are in danger of being left behind in the clean energy transition," House said.
Andrew Sierra, political and organizing director of the Nevada Conservation League, said shifting to electric ensured homes, buildings and vehicles would improve air quality and community health.
"But at the end of the day we must realize the burden of pollution falls disproportionately on communities of color and low-income communities, who often suffer from asthma and other illnesses, contaminated water and other climate-related effects," he said.
