4 ms·

I must admit I hadn't thought of Las Vegas as a champion of sustainability, but maybe I should revise my views.

• SamReidHughes 10y ago
  It's easier when you're both in a desert and near a big dam.
  • Namrog84 10y ago
    Except to my understanding, they aren't currently using any big dam power. Though they plan to soon.
    • jobu 10y ago
      Third sentence in the article: The power flows from a mix of solar panels and hydroelectric turbines including the Hoover Dam. It seems odd to think about hydroelectric power in a desert as a renewable resource, but it does come from snow in Colorado.
      • toomuchtodo 10y ago
        Its not sustainable at current Las Vegas water consumption rates. http://www.ibtimes.com/lake-mead-water-level-drops-record-low-drought-dries-colorado-river-basin-2372146 http://www.ibtimes.com/lake-mead-water-level-drops-record-lo...
        • niftich 10y ago
          California is apportioned 14x more water from the Colorado Basin than Nevada, Arizona 9x more [1]. Las Vegas has implemented several water conservation measures [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Compact [2] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2015/05/02/5-facts-you-need-to-know-about-lake-meads-water-crisis/ https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2015/05/02/5-fac...
          • wlesieutre 10y ago
            California also has 14x the population of Nevada, so that's not too surprising
            • cjensen 10y ago
              That's not why California gets more water. It has to do with how Water Rights in the Western US work [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior-appropriation_water_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior-appropriation_water_righ...
              • jessriedel 10y ago
                Well, sort of. The fact that CA has 14 times the population today is strongly related to the fact that it applied 14 times the water for productive use in the past.
        • deleted 10y ago
          [deleted]
    • ams6110 10y ago
      Really? I would have thought that nearly all the power used in Las Vegas would come from the Hoover Dam.
• patoGigante 10y ago
  No need to revise... Las Vegas is no steward of environmental leadership. They've been been among the fastest growing American cities since the 1980s. The impact on water useage has been substantial. ProPublica has an excellent series online: propublica.org/series/killing-the-colorado This is one of those issues no one wants to talk about & Vegas suburban sprawl the past 30 years is a big part of the problem. A few solar panels the city puts up is a nice try, but no dice Las Vegas!
• melling 10y ago
  Some of the casinos have been fighting to use solar. In the past they've been forced to buy from the state monopoly: http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/energy/switch-reaches-agreement-nevada-regulators-leave-nv-energy http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/energy/switch-reaches-... http://www.wsj.com/articles/vegas-casinos-fight-to-buy-their-own-electricity-1443999633 http://www.wsj.com/articles/vegas-casinos-fight-to-buy-their...