Energy & Transportation Updates, June 2021

By Jasmine Vazin, Clean Transportation For All and Beyond Coal organizer.

In June and beyond, Sierra Club's Toiyabe Chapter and Beyond Coal Campaign will be leading and participating in the following events and activities to improve climate resilience and reduce energy use and emissions in our cities and transportation sector. Please join us to make our work more effective.

Healthy homes flyerEducational Community Forum: Healthy Homes 101

Join us June 28th at 1PM- RSVP HERE!

The Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter and the Beyond Coal Campaign are launching a new campaign in the state of Nevada: healthy homes and building electrification. Did you know that indoor air quality is often 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air outdoors due to the appliances we use?! What does this mean for public health, our families, and how does this issue relate to climate change?

Join us for an introductory educational webinar to kick off our summer webinar series and learn more about what a healthy home means, why we are pursuing this now, and how to get involved in this new campaign! We hope to see you there! RSVP HERE.


 

CTFA logoClean Cars NV: LEV Small Business Impacts Technical Session June 15th, and Stakeholder Workshop June 17th

Nevada is currently in process of adopting California’s Clean Car standards, and the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) is conducting a series of public outreach events to ensure our community understands these standards and how they would be applied going forward. The next session for this program will be on June 15th from 9:00AM-10:00AM. Joining information will be posted on the NDEP site here before the event. This session will be an overview of the potential small business impacts of Zero Emission Vehicles Standards, and is best suited for the small business oriented folks among us.

Following this session, NDEP will also be hosting a stakeholder workshop June 17th, time TBD, but joining information will be sent out to those who have signed up for the Clean Cars NV listserv on the NDEP webpage.

Whether or not you attend these sessions, please be sure to sign our petition calling on Governor Sisolak and NDEP to adopt clean car standards in Nevada!

Our communities need clean air and climate protections NOW. Our children deserve to be able to breathe clean air, and future generations deserve a Nevada with a livable climate. This is why we need to speak up together and demand Nevada adopt clean car standards. Governor Sisolak needs to hear that you support clean car standards in our state. Clean car standards are a step in the right direction for climate action in Nevada, and we can’t let fossil fuel and vehicle lobbies prevent this much needed progress.

Add your name and demand Nevada adopt clean car standards today! Don’t forget to add a personal message about why clean air and clean cars are important to you, your family, and your community.


Rail, an idea whose time has come

Nevada Rail Coalition Launches

Transportation is the single leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in Nevada, and we must reform our transportation system if we are going to meet our state’s climate goals. An integral factor required in this transformation is developing a much better public transportation system in and between every community statewide to transition away from single passenger vehicles being the dominant form of transit. Our chapter transportation team has been hard at work to advocate for a climate centric transportation future, and our passenger rail proposal for northern Nevada was included in the 2021 State Rail Plan!

Now what? Our team has identified the need for advocacy and organizing to ensure that the state rail plan is actually implemented to make rail transit and freight a reality in Nevada. To do this; we have invited state agencies, non-profit partners, and private sector groups that work or support rail to come together and form a Nevada Rail Coalition, and we will be hosting our first meeting June 21st to brainstorm next steps to support the state rail plan in this new collaborative space.

Be on the lookout for updates from this meeting. If you would like to join our work to expand rail in Nevada, join our transportation team today to advocate for clean transportation options in your community!