Eliminating beef and chicken, along with processed foods (anything that will it on a shelf in a pantry for over a year- other than beans) will solve a lot of the problems people have with food budgets and make you healthier in the end. Going without snacking will also save you money, but if you do get hungry throughout the day, like I do, there are some low cost options, such as bananas and almonds. Plus, stop drinking bottled water, canned beverages, and juices that contain more additives than actual fruit juice. They are a waste of money and bad for your health.

I have friends who are athletes that obtain peak performance without massive amounts of protein. They eat a lot of grains and legumes. Some of them are even vegans and they have no problem with energy or keeping on muscle- if that's important to you.

Education about what real food is and what it is not; access to healthy options and low-cost bulk items; neighborhood gardens; back-yard chicken coops for eggs; and the eradication of fast "food" in our neighborhoods would go a long way to solving some of the food and health problems in our community.

I can appreciate that the President made an effort to support local businesses. The Aria hotel, as well as many of the other Strip properties, are LEED certified, so I think this was more about supporting small business owners than anything. Kudos!

I love how none of the global warming deniers I've spoken with complained about fossil fuel subsides over the past 5 decades... or the obscene profits of the oil industry. I say we put the solution to global warming in the hands of the private capital markets, steer the effort with a little regulation and a whole lot of incentives. Next, we take the externalized costs of fossil fuel (the value of the ghg emissions) and we return a portion of those consumer costs, get this, back to consumers in the form of energy efficiency upgrades and in some cases, utility bill assistance. This places the burden of cleaning up the air on polluters, NOT consumers, and in turn helps utilities navigate the change without taking a big hit with their shareholders due to incentives and gradual elimination of old, dirty power plants. It's definitely more complicated, but the general idea is that like most economic challenges in this country, we must use carrots and sticks.

"This benefits all of the members of the Building Trades Council and is exactly what workers need right now. In essence, high-speed fail will help get Southern Nevada's economy back on track and we are proud to be a part of that process."

Yep, he said it... "high speed fail".

Nuff said.

Why would we ever expect to get a professional sports franchise in this town? At the height of our "boom cycle" with the happiest mayor in the universe we couldn't succeed in drawing a team, so why would building a sports arena do the trick? This city, this community, would do far better to invest in education and research, clean energy technologies and transit before building an arena.

If you want to create jobs here, stop relying so much on construction and diversify the non-gaming economy.

You can read the Scorecard on their website as well...

www.nvgreenvote.org

There are a number of ideas that have been floating around (pardon the pun) for sustainable water use in southern Nevada for years:

1. Let's stop selling the notion of "return flow credits" as a magical solution to extending our water supply problems. We should, at the very least, allow for gray water systems and rain collection systems. SNWA opposes these systems, unless you live where water doesn't flow back to Lake Mead, then they don't care. See: http://tinyurl.com/ctcqe8

2. SNWA should expand their "cash for grass" rebate when it becomes fully prescribed instead of refusing rebates when they reach their arbitrary rebate cap. If the program is working, WHY STOP DOING IT? Unless... Oh yeah, they seem to care more about improving cash flow then reducing water flow... See: http://tinyurl.com/ygppcms

3. EXCEPT for when it comes to OVER-PAYING for ranches and spending a fortune on lobbyists to buy votes or favor... WITH PUBLIC DOLLARS! See: http://tinyurl.com/ykttu2z

4. "Two years ago, Mulroy said the pipeline was needed to support Las Vegas growth. Then the development bubble burst, taking thousands of Las Vegas families down with it. Today, the developers still say they need the water for future development, but Mulroy says the pipeline is the valleys guarantee of a stable water supply." SO WHICH IS IT?!? See: http://tinyurl.com/yh3y443

SNWA should abandon this ridiculous idea, that is both cost prohibitive AND will promise to be environmentally destructive.

Final thought: Let's say this pipeline gets built and we don't make any effort to manage growth and really get serious about water use... and then in 30 years we have to "turn the faucet off" of the pipeline because of the environmental degradation in eastern Nevada and resulting impacts to air quality across the Wasatch. Where do we get the water THEN for the 2 million additional people living in Las Vegas?

I'm pretty sure Reid will support what is best for ALL Nevadans, which is what increasing revenues will do... They've never paid their fair share and it's time for them to do so. This initiative will turn out voters who want to see more revenue over more cuts in government services- and those voters FAR outweigh the "cut to the bone and disable government" types.

I say kudos to PLAN for standing up to the political forces and lobbyists in this state that have been protecting a very profitable industry for years.

And to repeat, I believe Senator Reid will vote for this initiative because it is the RIGHT thing for Nevada.

Sunlizard-

So Basin and Range Watch is a site by residents of Baker, California according to this document you can find by Google searching "basin and range watch" and choosing the 10th item, which takes you to "osun.org". You would rather have Californians telling us what to do here in Nevada?

http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/iva...

I'm surprised you're not linking to Sierra Club or other radical groups that probably agree with your position. They have a lot more stuff on their sites than GBRW.

Sunlizard-

The number one impact to desert tortoise habitat and the destruction of tortoise has been housing development and construction. How can you say "I just don't see that as an issue at the moment" when Clark County and the other local governments are requesting 215,000 ADDITIONAL acres to destroy on top of the existing permit of 160,000 acres? As for your work on the issue in the 90's, nice job. You really held the line on that one buddy. How many homes have been built under your watch?

Based on what it is being written in newspaper stories and discussed by enviro groups, apparently the solar industry will do a very good job mitigating the impacts on tortoise and the other desert flora and fauna than any of the other industries that have mowed through our desert.

What is your problem with large scale solar? I think it's pretty impressive that enviros and labor are working together with industry to get our economy back on track.

Also, how do you feel about the water pipeline project? I don't think you've said anything about that in your rantings. Do you support it or oppose it? I only ask b/c you seem to be fine with urban sprawl and out of control housing growth, as long as we put solar panels on the rooftops. Sure maybe you opposed it way back when, but since you don't see it as an issue now, and EVERYONE knows it is, I guess you just don't care.

By the way, who is the author of that website you linked to earlier. There isn't anything about the authors or organization that writes it. Am I overlooking that info on the site? What are they hiding?