Latest news with #SierraClubToiyabeChapter
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Public lands ‘fire sale' plan fuels criticism from Nevada, environmental groups
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Public lands advocates, environmental groups and Nevada politicians issued strong reactions as details of a plan to sell off millions of acres emerged on Wednesday. Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee's plan could result in as much as 3 million acres at fair market value, with all the money going directly into the U.S. Treasury, where it will help pay for extensions to President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts. 'It is clear that this language was developed behind closed doors without input from critical Nevada stakeholders because it ignores provisions for affordable housing and eliminates funding Nevada relies on for our schools and water conservation projects,' Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Wednesday night. BLM auctions in the Las Vegas valley generate millions in revenue for parks and recreation through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA). Nevada public lands likely a target again when Senate takes up Trump's 'one big, beautiful bill' 'If we truly want to support affordable housing and economic development in Nevada, everyone needs to be at the table. Shoving lands sales in a reconciliation bill in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires is not the way forward, and I'll continue to fight against this misguided proposal,' she said. Lee's plan would sell off up to 3.3 million acres, according to the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. The majority of U.S. public lands are in the West, and 80% of Nevada is federally owned. The Bureau of Land Management controls 47 million acres (63% of the state) and the Forest Service owns 5.7 million acres. Those two agencies are ordered to sell land in Lee's proposal. At the end of the 69-page document detailing the plan, a single paragraph earmarks $500 million for 'water conveyance enhancement' to restore or increase the capacity or use of existing conveyance facilities constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation. The magnitude of the federal ownership of land in the West becomes clear in the plan's goal of selling 0.5% to 0.75% of land under the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agriculture, which is over the Forest Service. The equates to 2.2 million to 3.3 million acres. 'Our organization has always upheld that this type of land sale could never fix the affordable housing crisis,' Olivia Tanager, executive director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, said Wednesday. 'No one who needs affordable housing can afford to live in the outskirts of town with no access to public transportation, jobs, schools, or grocery stores.' East Las Vegas valley site revealed in affordable housing plan The Sierra Club is putting on five town hall meetings in Las Vegas to help explain Lee's proposal. The first is tonight — Thursday, June 12, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Enterprise Library. A June 18 meeting at the Summerlin Library is from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Click here for more on the Sierra Club's schedule. More than 100 groups opposed including public land sales in the 'one big, beautiful bill' making its way through the U.S. Senate. 'Public lands are part of our national heritage, and people around the country have stood up and said 'no' to the MAGA public land fire sale,' Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said earlier in the week. 'America needs these beautiful places for wildlife, people, clean air and clean water. Sen. Mike Lee is trying to ram public land sell-offs down Westerners' throats, and we won't stand for it.' The reconciliation bill was passed by the U.S. House on May 22, but without Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei's amendment to sell public lands. That provision was stripped out as Republican leaders moved to be sure they had the votes to pass the bill. Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, former U.S. Interior secretary during Trump's first term, would have voted against the bill if it included the public land sales. Lee's bill exempts Montana public lands from the sale, but that might not be enough to swing his vote if the bill gets back to the House. 'This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands,' Zinke told the New York Times last month. 'Once the land is sold, we will never get it back.' Cortez Masto and others have criticized Amodei's tactic in using a late-night session for his amendment, escaping immediate public scrutiny. They have also criticized Lee, who didn't release his plan until Cortez Masto pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday. 'Yet again, decision makers in Washington D.C. are making deals behind closed doors and excluding the public on how to manage our public lands,' Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation,' said. 'We already have processes in place to deal with the sale of public lands to address housing in the west which includes public participation. Circumventing nearly 50 years of tradition and trust in order to sell land to the highest bidder is not a precedent our decision makers should be making. I urge the Senate to listen to the hunters, anglers, hikers, and other public land users that make up the majority of westerners who want this proposal removed from the reconciliation bill.' Kristee Watson, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, echoed that statement. 'This is what happens when you open the door to backroom land deals,' Watson said. 'Mark Amodei lit the match, and now extremists in the Senate are fueling the fire, pushing a reckless sell-off of our public lands without public input or regard for the consequences. These lands are not 'disposable' — they fuel Nevada's $8.1 billion outdoor economy, support thousands of jobs, and provide the open spaces that make our state special.' Watson said the move isn't about the housing crisis. 'It's about greed. Politicians in DC are once again trying to sell out Nevadans and put our public lands on the auction block to fund handouts for their billionaire buddies. We urge the Senate to reject this dangerous amendment and stand with Nevadans, not with out-of-state developers and wealthy interests,' she said. 'Senator Mike Lee should be ashamed of himself for using the housing affordability crisis as an excuse to sell public lands off to private developers,' Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, said. 'Time and time again, Westerners have made it crystal clear that they want to keep public lands in public hands. Clearly Senator Lee isn't listening.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislation would require utilities to publicly report data on household service shut offs
The legislation's advocates say the Trump administration's ongoing policies to pause and/or cancel disbursement of federal funds cast doubt on the stability of federal energy affordability programs. (Getty Images) Data on households in Nevada facing power or gas shut offs due to nonpayment amid scorching summers and frigid winters is largely unknown. That could change under a bill that would require utilities to report on a quarterly basis the number of disconnections due to non-payment broken down by month and zip code. Senate Bill 442, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure, was presented to lawmakers by state Democratic Sen. Melanie Scheible on Monday. Nevada does not require utilities to publicly disclose the number of customers they disconnect, leaving little transparency to understand the full extent of disconnections. Nationally, 26 states and Washington D.C. require some level of public reporting on utility disconnections due to nonpayment. Limited data collected by utility regulators shows a growing trend in the number of residents in the state who have had their power cut due to nonpayment. Nearly 32,000 Nevadans had their power disconnected by NV Energy for nonpayment in 2024, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. 'The information that we do have highlights the need for better reporting,' said Olivia Tanager, the director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter which covers Nevada and the Eastern Sierra. The Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter recommended the bill and helped present the bill to lawmakers on Monday. Supporters of the bill say mandatory disconnection reporting by month and zip code would provide health departments, community-based organizations, and public services in Nevada with the data they need to identify the communities most at risk of disconnection. That data could then be used to focus public assistance on where, and when, it's most needed. 'We continue to see rising utility costs associated with more extreme weather and an increasing number of households facing financial difficulties. It is vital that we have the data we need to understand the full scope of this issue and take informed, meaningful action,' Tanager continued. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1 in 4 American households experience some form of energy insecurity – an inability to afford household energy needs – each year, with little improvement over the past decade. 'These disconnections can have severe consequences, not only leaving individuals and families without essential services like electricity and heating, but also contributing to broader economic and social instability,' Tanager said during the Monday hearing on the bill. During the hearing, both NV Energy and Southwest Gas testified as neutral on the bill, noting their existing energy assistance programs as well as the potential benefits of the bill in directing outside resources. The legislation's advocates say the Trump administration's ongoing policies to pause and/or cancel disbursement of federal funds cast doubt on the stability of federal energy affordability programs. Federal employees for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) — which provides funding to help low-income households pay for energy costs — were fired last week as part of a dramatic restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Services, making the future of the program unclear. In 2024 Nevada received $17 million in LIHEAP funding to help about 12,000 low-income households keep their lights on. 'All of those folks that administer that program were unfortunately fired, and so there is some question about the longevity of LIHEAP and how that's going to impact folks,' Tanager said. Several advocacy groups testified in support for the bill Monday including, the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council, United Way of Southern Nevada, the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, and the Moms for Clean Air. Congress has expressed an interest in determining the scale and scope of electricity disconnections in recent years. In 2022, Congress directed the U.S. Energy Information Administration to begin collecting monthly data on utility disconnections, but the lack of public data has made comprehensive national data difficult to obtain, according to the Congressional Research Service. Limited data does show that Black and Hispanic households are statistically more likely to have their power disconnected, according to a 2023 report on electric utility disconnections by the Congressional Research Service. 'The intent of the bill is to make sure that we have regular information so that we can drive services that exist to help folks keep their lights on where they're most needed, when they're most needed,' Tanager said. The committee took no action on the bill.
