Environment

Clark County issues air quality advisory, with nod to ozone effects: Monday, April 1, 2013; By Jackie Valley; It’s that time of year again. Officials have issued an air quality advisory, effective through Sept. 30, related to ground-level ozone in Southern Nevada.

Utah governor agonizing over Nevada's water play: Thursday, March 28, 2013; Paul Foy, Associated Press; Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is struggling over whether to let Las Vegas pump massive amounts of groundwater from the Nevada-Utah border.

Strip resorts to go dark for an hour to mark pro-environment event: Saturday, March 23, 2013; By William D'Urso; More than half a dozen resorts will knock out their lights for an hour Saturday night in support of an effort to raise awareness for the environment and energy conservation. The casinos will participate in the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for the fifth year in a row by turning out all of their non-essential lighting and marquees.

Local economy scores major coup with luring of SolarCity to Las Vegas: Thursday, March 21, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; This is what state officials had in mind when they created a $10 million catalyst fund to be used to close deals to persuade companies to bring their operations to Nevada.

Elko County hopes plan prevents sage grouse listing: Sunday, March 17, 2013; Politics:; By Martin Griffith, The Associated Press; Officials in a rural northeastern Nevada county have approved a pilot project designed to keep sage grouse off the endangered species list by killing ravens with poisoned eggs and by reducing wildfire threats through livestock grazing.

Is spring really here? Mojave Max says yes: Thursday, March 14, 2013; By Brian Nordli; Mojave Max has decided not to delay the start of spring any longer. The famous desert tortoise shut off his internal alarm, ended his hibernation and moseyed out of his burrow, heralding the start of spring at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. Last year Max did not leave his burrow until April 17, the latest he’d ever done so, Clark County Desert Conservation officials said.

Wind farm near Searchlight gets OK, could power 70,000 homes: Wednesday, March 13, 2013; By Conor Shine; A major renewable energy project for 87 wind turbines on federal land near Searchlight received government approval Wednesday. The wind farm would cover about 160 acres of a 19,000 acre piece of Bureau of Land Management property west of Searchlight.

Who's afraid of a chicken? Mining, energy, ranching: Sunday, March 10, 2013; LEGISLATURE 2013: The sage grouse is a 2-ton elephant when it comes to making some Nevada industries sweat; By Andrew Doughman; Although the number of sage grouse, or prairie chickens, nesting in the great expanses of Northern Nevada may seem trivial to anyone in Clark County, the bird’s potential listing as an endangered species has many of the state’s important industries worried.

In NASCAR, green no longer just means go: Saturday, March 9, 2013; Motor sports league and its fans embrace environmentally friendly initiatives; By William D'Urso; When NASCAR race cars whip around Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, they’ll be doing it on a fuel that contains 15 percent ethanol. While NASCAR fans may have been hesitant at first toward the move to green, they have since embraced it.

Is fight over storing nuclear waste in Nevada ready to resume?: Wednesday, February 27, 2013; By Karoun Demirjian; Congressional lawmakers could resume butting heads over Yucca Mountain next month, when a bipartisan team of senators starts circulating a draft nuclear waste bill.

Sandoval's energy office seeks to expand green building tax rebate program: Tuesday, February 19, 2013; By David McGrath Schwartz; The state’s office of energy wants Nevada lawmakers to expand a property tax rebate program for green buildings, allowing rehabilitation projects of older buildings to qualify for the tax break.

Public land bills introduced, uniting Nevada lawmakers: Thursday, February 14, 2013; By Karoun Demirjian; After agreeing to hit the ground running on public lands issues Wednesday, the Nevada delegation kicked things off Thursday with a coordinated drop of their top-priority bills.

Nevada Supreme Court declares wind turbine a nuisance: Thursday, February 14, 2013; By Cy Ryan; Building a 75-foot-tall wind turbine adjacent to a quiet subdivision is a nuisance because, in part, it ruins the scenery and creates noise, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled.

Closed landfill's makeover complete; officials hail project ridding landscape of malodorous eyesore: Tuesday, February 5, 2013; By Tovin Lapan; Standing on the Sunrise Landfill, a 440-acre swath of terraced land on the eastern fringes of the valley, one immediately notices the spectacular panorama, highlighted by the Strip skyline and snow-capped Mount Charleston. Not noticeable are the 18 million cubic yards of waste buried there beneath dirt and rock. A former stench, which overwhelmed politicians and officials who toured the site 15 years ago and elicited numerous complaints from neighbors, no longer can be detected.

Twice-a-week trash pickup out, once-a-week recycling pickup in: Tuesday, February 5, 2013; By Conor Shine; The Clark County Commission has approved a new single-stream recycling ordinance, bringing big changes in waste pickup for valley residents after years of debate on the issue.