Over the past four years, the former president’s vitriol, racial divisiveness, and election denialism has been trying to deepen its roots.  Not surprisingly, events in Nevada have mirrored what’s happening more broadly in the country.  It’s not the better angels of our nature showing up in national headlines.

I was both embarrassed and outraged in  July/August 2020, when Douglas County’s  Sheriff Coverley’s belligerent threat to withdraw police support because of the librarian’s proposed diversity and inclusion statement showed up in USA Today and on CNN and, then, resulted in law enforcement’s subsequent laissez faire response when locals in camouflage gear, helmets and armed with semi-automatic rifles showed up to “protect” their sheriff from Black Lives Matter protesters.  I don’t know about you, but I’m in no hurry to claim the distinction of being one of seven states to put forth fake electors as part of the January 6^th insurrection.  And even more recently, Washoe County Commissioners’ latest refusal, albeit since resolved, to certify county primary results has been spotlighted and underscored as one piece of a greater strategy to set the stage for yet another round of election denialism.

Here we are, August 2024, closing in on a fast-approaching election date and the mood has us all almost giddy.  Invigorated Democrats along with our allies, new and old, are joining thousands around the nation to line up for action.  And a good thing, too.  We are leaving the diminished, fear-laden worldview hawked by billionaire-funded wannabe fascists in the rear-view mirror.    Try as they might to disavow their association with it, the Republican party is burdened with the Project 2025 albatross. And things are unfolding now that a few months ago we would have said had as much of a probability of happening as all of us simultaneously winning the lottery.

We haven’t won, yet.  But the chances are looking better.  Like many Democrats who have had enough of Trumpism, moderate Republicans are coming into the spotlight and moving resolutely to reclaim their party.

Prominent GOP officials in Arizona recently announced support for Kamala Harris and the Arizona Democratic senate candidate, Ruben Gallego. The Harris campaign is actively reaching out via their “Republicans for Harris” program and the list of supporters is growing.  It includes former republican congressional representatives, governors, U.S. Secretaries of Defense and Treasury, and White House staff.

As one of the seven swing states where the Harris-Walz campaign is gaining ground from where we were merely a month ago, the races are still nailbiters.  We have work to do.  It’s time to excavate and shine light on all that has been happening in the state of Nevada that is worth protecting, fighting for, and building upon.

As Leah Stokes outlines in her Guardian article Kamala Harris has street cred when it comes to climate.

Well beyond being the tie-breaking vote for the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), VP Harris managed to work behind the scenes to get many of her long-time climate policies signed into law in that bill.  Among those policies are:   $20B investment in green banks, ensuring clean energy workers higher wages, getting electric vehicle incentives to include low- and middle-income families and a $40B environmental justice investment for disadvantaged communities.  Check out our Third Act Nevada’s August 2024 newsletter for a sampling of what the Biden-Harris campaign has done specifically for Nevada through this legislation.

Climate is only one plank that we, Third Act Nevadans, are working tirelessly to impact.  Reaffirming our commitment to a functional democracy and continuing to work on manifesting it is also central to this election.  Many of us are invested in walking over the shards of the broken glass ceiling.  Kamala Harris would not only be the first female United States president.  She also brings with her the wealth of perspective her identity as black and of Jamaican and South Asian descent offers.  Furthermore, there is every reason to believe that Kamala Harris will continue the Biden administration’s commitment to representation and diversity.

And yet, representation is only the beginning.  At the Third Act Central “Elders for Kamala” fundraiser on August 5^th, Judith LeBlanc, an enrolled member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and member of The Native Organizers Alliance, made the following observations addressing an audience of Elders — and here I paraphrase:

Representation is not a destination.  It’s a set of conditions that create opportunity for movement toward solutions.  When we vote we are doing so on behalf of our ancestors and for our descendants.  The stakes are high.  The margins are narrow.  The ground game is where it’s at.  The real politics start on election day.

High stakes.  Narrow margins. Ground game.  This year, let’s put Nevada in the headlines for all the right reasons; not the least of which is putting the Harris-Walz team in the White House with a margin so large that an accusation of election tampering would be, well, just “weird.”

And when we win, we’ll roll up our sleeves, link arms, and march forward with determination and respect. 

Written by Loretta Kuliawat

But our sadness turns to anger, knowing it could disappear forever if NV Energy and other Berkshire Hathaway-owned utilities continue to put their profits ahead of a clean energy transition.

When our great-grandparents escaped the Irish famine and landed in Wadsworth, the Truckee Meadows was surrounded by 600-year-old trees, with 40-pound trout from Pyramid Lake spawning up the Truckee River. Those trees and fish are not only gone, they are forgotten, decimated by dams, excessive pollution and logging for the Comstock mines.

The deer- and bear-laden forests that remain around Reno, and trout-filled Truckee River, also could be gone and forgotten by future generations, given the rapid pace of climate change and the lackluster response of NV Energy and others who have gone from climate deniers to climate pretenders.

Born in 1957 (Cathy) and 1960 (B), we are closer to the exit than the entrance. We know that the actions taken by those of us who are alive today will impact hundreds of generations to come. That’s why we are part of a growing movement in Nevada to protest NV Energy and to make sure our governor, Legislature and Public Utilities Commission force them to do the right thing.

Cathy is new to activism, stepping up in her retirement to work with other, older Nevadans who are also new to activism in order to harness the power of our generation. B has engaged in traditional policy work — advocating for laws and regulations that protect the common good — for 40 years in Nevada, and sees this getting more difficult as the system is further rigged.

Our hometown of Reno is the fastest-warming city in America, with average summer temperatures that are 10.9° hotter than in 1970. Last year, we saw the deadliest wildfires in over a century, Florida seawater hitting 101-degree hot-tub levels, and the hottest summer ever recorded.

We are angry and disappointed that NV Energy continues to: 1) kill rooftop solarand thwart community solar; 2) bypass the Integrated Resource Planning process to install expensive, short-lived fossil fuel energy plants via amendments; and 3) use ratepayer funds to pay for employee bonuses, corporate lobbyists and lavish entertainment, all while planning a threefold increase in our monthly base rate.

Nevada rooftops aren’t blazoned with solar panels because NV Energy kills every clean energy proposal unless it can own and profit from it. Corporations like NV Energy and Berkshire Hathaway are responsible for climate change, high energy burdens and political corruption. They work with trade associations, dark money networks and lobbyists who spend untold amounts of money in Nevada and nationally to buy politicians and block advances like community and rooftop solar.

We can end our dependence on burning things for energy and stabilize our climate in the process — but only if NV Energy, its parent company Berkshire Hathaway and their ilk stop putting their profits before the future of our planet.
Like millions around the globe, we feel that the greatest task of generations alive today is to give our grandchildren and future generations a shot at a livable planet by hastening a green energy transition and ending the burning of fossil fuels.

Please join us, beginning with speaking out at next month’s consumer sessions before the Public Utilities Commission.

This piece appeared in the Reno Gazette Journal on 5/10/2024.  To see the printed version follow this link:  OPINION: NV Energy aggravates climate change