Wednesday, June 14, 2023 | 2 a.m.
The June 4 guest column by Chris Brooks, “Permitting reform needed to speed along clean energy future,” was on point.
Nevada has many resources to help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, including large lithium deposits in the northern and central parts of the state that can be mined.
Despite the fact that lithium-ion batteries are one of the best choices to eliminate fossil fuels, permitting lithium mines takes several years.
Similarly, Nevada has abundant sources of geothermal energy and is the second largest geothermal energy producer in the U.S.
We have 19 geothermal power plants operating in our state, and applications for several more. Geothermal plants produce a nonpolluting, constant source of electricity, yet permitting them takes at least five years.
Litigation often causes the biggest delays in the permitting process. For example, litigation ensued over a proposed geothermal plant on the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada because it would affect the surrounding mountains and sand dunes.
But if climate change isn’t stopped, aesthetic beauty will be the least of our concerns.
No one can tell us if our production of greenhouse gases has pushed us past the tipping point where a reduction of those gases can no longer mitigate climate change.
Our only hope is that we haven’t reached that point and that we can still prevent that by eliminating greenhouse gases as quickly as possible.
