After controversial decisions on reproductive rights and gun laws, Supreme Court justices recently sided with Republican-led states and coal companies in West Virginia v. EPA, weakening the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants.
In a 6-3 vote, the court ruled that the federal agency did not have the authority to enforce an inactive 2015 policy from the Obama administration, the Clean Power Plan, which set goals for each state to cut power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2030—and was hailed by environmental groups as an unprecedented limit on existing power plants and how much they can pollute. Emissions from electricity production and the industrial sector comprise nearly half of carbon emissions in the nation, according to the EPA.
Democratic leaders have decried the ruling. Both President Joe Biden and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto— who sits on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee—characterized the decision as a step backward, not just for air quality but for the country’s ongoing commitments to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.
According to a report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the decision could delay climate action from the U.S., the world’s largest historic emitter and currently the second largest emitter behind China. Per the international Paris Agreement, the U.S. has pledged to reduce net carbon emissions to about 50% of 2005 levels by 2030. Thus far, the U.S. has achieved only a 15% reduction, according to Yale Climate Connections.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak says that, regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Nevada will push forward with its interstate commitments and climate goals, including the Renewable Portfolio Standard of 50% renewable energy by 2030.
“Nevada is a member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of states that are committed to taking real, impactful, on-the-ground action that urgently addresses the climate challenge,” the governor said in a statement to the Weekly, “and the State continues to push forward with policies and actions to help achieve our climate goals and reduce emissions.”
Nevada has set its own benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. According to a 2021 Greenhouse Gas Emissions report, the state is about 21% short of its reduction target for 2030 (45% below 2005 levels).
According to the state emissions report, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (enshrined in Nevada law in 2019) has helped reduce emissions in the electricity generation sector. However, the report explains, “Unless more aggressive policies are adopted at the state and federal level, [electricity generation sector] reductions may be offset by increase in emissions in the other sectors, primarily industry and residential and commercial.”
Worst local emitters
According to Clark County’s most recent greenhouse gas emissions report, the buildings and industrial energy sector generated the majority of emissions in 2019, accounting for more than 47% of regional emissions. The report includes residential, commercial and industrial energy as part of the sector, but does not include electricity power plants that burn fossil fuels.
“The fossil fuels burned to generate electricity at power plants are not generally accounted for in community-based inventories and are excluded from this assessment,” the report says.
The transportation sector was revealed as the second-largest emitter in Clark County (37% of regional emissions) and the largest emitter in Nevada, accounting for 34% of total statewide emissions. Transportation is expected to remain the largest emitter statewide through 2041, according to the state report.
Lawmakers and the governor have looked to electric vehicles as one way to reduce the sector’s emissions. The Clean Cars Nevada regulation, passed by Nevada lawmakers in 2021, adopted more stringent emissions standards and aims to increase the number of electric vehicles in the state by 2024—an effort that will require the state to take a closer look at the electricity generation sector.
“Continued decarbonization of the electricity generation sector is needed to realize greater carbon reduction benefits of transportation sector electrification,” the state emissions report says.
Clark County has supported the state’s emissions reduction goals, largely through the Division of Air Quality, which administers the county’s air pollution control program. The division’s air quality monitoring system is based on EPA standards for clean air, explains Kevin MacDonald, spokesman for the Department of Environment and Sustainability.
The division issues “air permits” to businesses that meet a certain threshold of emissions. Right now, the county has about 1,100 active permits, MacDonald says, and businesses must provide documentation to show compliance with regulations. “The permits are written so that they will operate within the National Ambient Air Quality Standards,” he says. “So that is going to hold them accountable for whatever they’re emitting.”
As for enforcement, a compliance division conducts “routine, sometimes unscheduled inspections,” MacDonald says. The county also provides a hotline for community complaints ranging from construction projects kicking up dust, overwhelming smells or smoke. Noncompliance or violations of local regulations can result in a notice of violation and monetary penalties. In 2021, the hotline received more than 1,040 calls, and responded to all but three of them within 24 hours, he says.
Uneven impact
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, people of color will “bear the burden” of pollution and suffer the negative health effects from pollutants that they did not create, says Estefany Carrasco Gonzalez, national director of Chispa, a branch of the League of Conservation Voters that focuses on environmental policies’ effect the Latino community.
“The decision that was made in the Supreme Court really sacrifices the health and livelihoods of low-income communities of color, who are already bearing the brunt of climate change and are already being exposed to higher levels of air pollution,” Gonzalez says, referencing information from the EPA and her experience working with residents in Southern Nevada.
“The quality of the air that we breathe, the quality of the water that we drink, everything affects our health and causes our communities to have disproportionate impacts on their health, ranging from asthma and respiratory illnesses, heart issues,” she says. “It affects our ability to live a long, healthy life.”
The American Lung Association (ALA) has given Clark County an “F” grade for ozone and short-term particle pollution, which are standards for measuring air quality. Ozone is harmful to lung function when inhaled, with more severe symptoms in those with pre-existing conditions and in older adults.
Studies have shown that exposure to ozone is associated with increased mortality. People of color are 3.6 times more likely to live in a county with failing grades in clean air categories. Four in 10 Americans live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the ALA.
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