Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck explores conservation-related bills to fund wildlife crossings, outdoor education for youth, and the electrification of large trucks.
Click here for a transcript of the audio story.
Episode Overview
Monday was the start of Conservation Lobby Week at the Nevada Legislature. During the week, Assembly Bill 128 was highlighted, which requests $1 million from the state for the next two years to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program.
The goal of the program is to fund outdoor recreation and educational activities for students from underserved backgrounds. Angel Lazcano, an environmental justice organizer with Somos Votantes, said students from working families face barriers to getting outside, such as busy schedules or high costs, including those at the gas pump. He has special memories from the times he spent outdoors as a child.
“Carne[s] asadas with the family, you know, going to Lake Mead, feeling the sand between your feet. I cherish them so much, but they only happened every so often when like the stars aligned and like all the tíos [were] able to get the day off,” Lazcano said.
Assembly Bill 184 establishes an incentive program for the electrification of large vehicles, such as garbage and delivery trucks and school buses. The vehicle must be driven in Nevada for at least 75% of the time. The legislation also includes higher monetary incentives for small business owners and minority- or veteran-owned businesses. The funding comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Carbon Reduction Program, which allocates money for projects that reduce emissions from the transportation sector.
“We know that especially trucks and buses are huge polluters, and breathing in the air and the toxic fumes is really dangerous. It leads to asthma, other respiratory illnesses. And that’s especially pertinent in typically low-income communities of color that are located right on highways and major roads,” said Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League.
Assembly Bill 112 asks for $15 million in bonds from the state to fund wildlife migration corridors, so animals such as mule deer, bighorn sheep and desert tortoises can cross either under or over major roads safely. More than 5,000 wild animals in Nevada are killed each year by vehicle collisions, and the Nevada Department of Transportation estimates that more than half of the incidents can go unreported.
“In Nevada, we spend about $20 million on accidents between cars and animals every year. People die, animals die, cars are totaled. It’s all expensive. It’s all bad. And so there’s a really easy solution: it’s targeted wildlife crossings,” Cabrera-Georgeson said.
Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about conservation-related legislation and why advocates say the funding is necessary.
Transcript
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both.
On Monday, Conservation Lobby Week kicked off with a rally at the Legislature in Carson City. Today, we’re talking with some of those participants and lobbyists about bills to fund wildlife crossings, the electrification of large trucks, and outdoor education for youth.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
STARBUCK: Assembly Bill 128 asks the state for $1 million over the next two years to fund the Outdoor Education and Recreation Grant Program.
Reno’s Damonte Ranch High School junior Maylyn Bubala says she grew up hiking and camping. She’s a former participant, now camp counselor, for the Nevada Outdoor School based in Winnemucca.
(SOUNDBITE OF MAYLYN BUBALA): Outdoor education is the future of education, especially in Nevada; we have so much public land. It allows kids to be exposed to nature and learn how to respect and explore our public lands.
STARBUCK: The goal of the grant program is to fund outdoor recreation and educational activities for students from underserved backgrounds. Angel Lazcano, an environmental justice organizer with Somos Votantes, says students from working families face barriers to getting outside, such as busy schedules or high costs, including those at the gas pump. Lazcano has special memories from the times he spent outdoors as a child.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANGEL LAZCANO): Carne asadas with the family, you know, going to Lake Mead, feeling the sand between your feet. I cherish them so much, but they only happened every so often when like the stars aligned and like all the tíos, “Oh, I was able to get the day off.”
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
STARBUCK: I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’re listening to Purple Politics Nevada. We’ve been exploring efforts to get students out in nature. I also spoke with the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League, Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, about the environmental bills they’re backing.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
STARBUCK: Let’s chat about the electrification of trucks and buses. What would that bill do to help increase production?
CABRERA-GEORGESON: So this bill leverages some federal funding that the state will be getting from the infrastructure bill to create a clean trucks and buses incentive program. So this bill will help small businesses, school districts, transit authorities electrify their fleet. So the example I like to use is your local furniture store; they have delivery trucks. They would be able to use this money to electrify their fleet and make it a little more affordable. Big semitrucks could potentially use this, but we’re trying to keep it in state. So you have to drive the majority of the time in state. We’re not looking at these big trucks that, you know, go back and forth from California to Nevada. It’s trying to keep it local and making sure that we’re providing incentives and help for Nevadans right here at home.
STARBUCK: What are some of the negative health impacts of air pollution?
CABRERA-GEORGESON: We know that especially trucks and buses are huge polluters, and breathing in the air and the toxic fumes is really dangerous. It leads to asthma, other respiratory illnesses. And that’s especially pertinent in typically low-income communities of color that are located right on highways and major roads.
STARBUCK: And let’s chat about wildlife crossings. What is that bill asking for?
CABRERA-GEORGESON: So this bill will create and fund an account for wildlife crossings which are those overpasses or underpasses that help wildlife cross major roads safely. Here in Nevada, we spend about $20 million on accidents between cars and animals every year. People die, animals die, cars are totaled. It’s all expensive. It’s all bad. And so there’s a really easy solution: it’s targeted wildlife crossings. There’s one in Elko that’s massive and has lowered the instances of these accidents significantly. Even just north of Reno, if you’re driving up to the, like, Portola, Frenchman’s [sic] Lake area, you can see some underpasses in some areas where wildlife are able to cross that road.
STARBUCK: What kind of animals are these saving?
CABRERA-GEORGESON: The big one is mule deer in Northern Nevada, or pronghorn. In Southern Nevada, there are also, like, bighorn sheep use these. Even desert tortoises use some; they have one specifically for them. We’ve also seen instances of bobcats, mountain lions, foxes.
STARBUCK: What goes into making sure that they use them?
CABRERA-GEORGESON: That’s where the Department of Wildlife really comes in. They track where animals migrate year after year. And they tend to use the same routes, and we tend to be able to see where accidents are happening every single year. And so they’re really able to look and say, “Okay, we need a crossing right here.” And then wildlife use them pretty quickly. There’s fencing to help kind of funnel them over the pass. It’s a really cool process and cool thing to watch.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
STARBUCK: That was Christi Cabrera-Georgeson, the deputy director of the Nevada Conservation League. Assembly Bill 112 asks for $15 million in bonds from the state to fund wildlife migration corridors. I’m Lucia Starbuck, and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.
