Water to the FRONT

In both the LVS and LVRJ papers you will find articles on water usage in Las Vegas and the pipeline proposal.

Vegas seems to think this is a done deal. Vegas seems to think that all it will take is a little more negotiation and water will come GUSHING from White Pine and Lincoln Counties to serve Las Vegas' growth. All that SEEMS to be left is a small deal with Utah.

PRO Nevada appreciates the farmers and ranchers who cashed in on the thirst of Vegas by selling their acre-feet of water, but PRO Nevada stands against pumping the water to Vegas for billions of dollars. That's right BILLIONS of dollars. As we said in a previous post Las Vegas can build a desalinization plant in Mexico for $250 million, with no annoying California environmentalist whackos stopping it. Why use up water that farmers, ranchers and miners already use in mid Nevada when you can trade desal' plants for water out of the Colorado? It is like driving 50 miles to see a movie that is playing in your back yard FOR LESS MONEY! Why is the Vegas Water Authority even messing with northern water? It is more expensive, it is expendable as opposed to the ocean of water in Mexico, and it is more environmentally sound.

Kudos to the ranchers and farmers who cashed in on LVVWA's stupidity but, seriously Vegas, get your head out of your ass.

EVERYBODY'S Cover Story

Okay, here's the thing ...

When did we get to the point where politics was about slinging as much mud as possible on each candidate? When did we get to the point where the issues took a back seat to digging up and explaining all the mud in your life?

Don't get me wrong, I believe that your ethics need to be consistent, you cannot screw people here and then NOT screw them there. That is an imposibility even in our dichotic world.

BUT there is a lot of room for HUMANS who make mistakes in the political arena. There has to be or only Jesus Christ could run for office. There has to be room for an honest politician to say, "You know what, you are right, I screwed up, I shouldn't have done that, but I learned from it, I am now a better person than I was then. NOW lets talk about our fixing our schools, or economic issues, or even Yucca Mountain."

I pray there is still room for our great state to forgive and forget. But in the age of internet searches we will always find stupid things our politicians say and do and a grainy video to prove it. I pray there is still room to discuss REAL issues instead of just the latest dirt.

Everybody's cover story is Gibbons possible affair or Bush's press secretary's new book. What just happened to the issues?

Let's get over it, get on with it, get done with it, and GET GOING AGAIN!

Politics and more Politics

How many of you out there REALLY think you can make a difference in American Politics? Seriously? I would really like to see a politician who honestly says what he/she is thinking and believes in. All I hear is politicians telling me what they think I want to hear:

"I don't support Yucca" in Nevada; "I support Yucca" in New York.
"I'll lower gas prices"
"I'll make the value of your home come back!"
"I'll make your schools better!"
"I'll vote out the dirty bastards!"
"I support your values!"
"I focus on what's important to YOU!"
"I'm the PRO Nevada candidate!"

Well, how refreshing would this be:

"I'm not going to promise a damn thing to you other then that I will tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not!"
"I'm not going to take a more than $100 from any one person and not a damn cent from businesses, unions, PACs, or other politicians!"

Now THAT would be PRO Nevada!

Nevada Gold Mining!

Congrats to Nevada Miners who set a record in gold production this year. While the actual ounces was a few less than last year, with the gold prices being so high they had record profits. (PVT) This is good for employment in Nevada. This is good for the security and stability as well as the wages of Nevada workers. And this is good for tax revenue for the state.

Mining in Nevada is definitely PRO Nevada!

Ethanol and/or Food

The LVRJ had a major editorial on Ethanol calling it"magical beans" and a scam. As the price of food goes up and the price of grain goes up I find I am torn.

My brother is an Indiana farmer and is now enjoying, for the first time in my 48 years of memory, a price for corn that he can actually make a living off of. $2 per bushel corn was the standard for almost 50 years, imagine that, imagine YOUR wages staying the same as they were in 1958! Instead of complaining and fighting (okay there has always been a little complaining and subsidies) the American farmer buckled down and became more and more efficient, and more efficient. They produced more and more grain off the same few acres. NOW suddenly we have corn at $6 per bushel because of the dream of ethanol fueling the US economy. Hooray for the farmer!

But on the other hand food is more expensive because corn also feeds animals that feed us both milk and meat. It still takes a lot of energy and water to produce ethanol and while I believe we will get better at it, there might be a better way to spend our resources. Like on Wind, Sun, and Geothermal.

PRONevada covers and area that doesn't include many corn growers, although wheat has gone up in price too. But PRONevada has to push alternative energy in Nevada and we would like to see the cost of food go down for many reasons while producing renewable energy in other ways.

Let's get back to business!

I read a LOT of the Nevada blogs. Some are good and some are not so good. I read the left wing blogs and the right wing ones. I enjoy reading both sides take on the same issue and I get pretty good at finding out your particular bent from simple looking at the adjectives you use in your writing. If you describe our Governor as "the idiot Jim Gibbons" or "the beleaguered Jim Gibbons" you get a good idea of the bent of the writer.

Well I am simply tired of the blogs on Jim Gibbons being about his divorce. For a week now that is all the local blogs have been about and it is time to get back to business and let the tabloids deal with the divorce if they feel it necessary. Let's talk about budget issues. Let's talk about Yucca issues. Let's talk about water issues. Let's talk about who's running for what and what their ideas are. Let's get back to business!

Nye County Direction

Nye County has approved "A $492,000 renewable energy study (that) will examine planning issues associated with various wind and solar projects proposed around Nye County"

This study will look at the "feasibility" of Wind Power, Biomass Power from landfills, Solar Power and infrastructure issues in Nye County. You can read about this here in the Pahrump Valley Times.

Now PRONevada is ALL FOR alternative energy in rural Nevada and we believe that there is no reason why Nevada can not be energy POSITIVE by the end of the next decade but this study has the smell of a stall tactic. I understand that Nye County has to go through proper channels and has to make sure they don't step on any toes but LET'S GET MOVING!

EVERYBODY KNOWS alternative energy is the right thing to do so instead of doing another feasibility study, let's knock down some of the barriers! Read the March 14 blog below and let's get moving instead of talking about it and studying it for another year!

PRONevada praises Nye County for their steps, even though they are baby steps, at least they are in the right direction.