The Heat Is On

It's been awfully hot outside lately. In fact, records were broken yesterday. Fallon, Yerington, & Lovelock all broke their previous respective record highs when they all hit 105 yesterday. And Reno hit a new record high of 103 yesterday.



Hmmm... Why does this seem so familiar? Perhaps this is because Nevada has been stuck in a perpetual heatwave and drought for over a decade? What might possibly be causing this extended hot & dry spell? (Hint: Think climate change.)

Last week, the Koch funded Heartland Institute hosted a climate denial "climate optimists'" convention at Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip. There, they dismissed their own record of climate denial talk of "denial" and "disaster" so they could instead turn up the happy talk on how "there's no way we could do that much damage to this great planet with our puny little carbon emissions". And of course, they reaffirmed their belief that we're better off "staying the course" with dirty fossil fuels than accelerating the switch to renewable energy.

Hmmm... Why does this sound so familiar? Might it be due to the fact that the Heartland Institute is part of the Koch-topus that's out to kill clean energy? And might it be due to the fact that the Heartland Institute also received plenty of funding from the (rest of the) fossil fuel industry?



Even a number of conservatives have come around to accept both the science of climate change and the need for climate action. Despite their "libertarian populist" rhetoric, the Heartland Institute and its "TEA" powered ideological soulmates are increasingly isolated in their hardened opposition to any & all climate action. Most Americans support President Obama's climate action plan. And the more evidence we see of climate change, the more reasons we have to act.

Lake Mead is about to hit a record low water level. Reno just hit a new record high temperature. And wildfire season began awfully early this year. Shouldn't we take notice?

We recognize Nevada tends to be quite hot during summer... But we're not used to this much heat. And we're certainly not used to this much drought. We simply can't afford to deny the reality outside, the reality that may just parch us and scorch us to death if we don't take further action.