4 Biggest Campaign Issues. 4 Bold, Immediate Solutions. Needed: Courageous Candidates to Implement Them.

Consider the dozens of challengers and incumbents running for elected offices state-wide. What do your favored candidates really know – or care about Nevada’s 4 most important issues and how to solve them?

Almost nothing, in most cases.

If it were not so, candidates would be speaking constantly about these issues and how they can be solved. All 4 of them affect every state resident in multiple ways.

Issue #1: WATER

Current Situation –

• 70% of Nevada’s population receives almost all its water from Lake Mead.

• Lake Mead is 2/3 empty, because the Colorado River which supplies it, provides less water every year.

• To barely meet its water needs, Clark County sends Lake Mead 190 million gallons of grey water and toilet water – every day – from Las Vegas homes, casinos, and hotels. This waste-water and sewage is mixed up in Lake Mead and sent back to Las Vegas to be treated.

• In less than 48 hours that same treated sewage water is pumped BACK into Las Vegas homes, casinos, and luxury hotels as drinking water.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/from-toilet-to-tap-how-las-vegas-recycles-its-sewage-water-2892820/

Meanwhile in Northern Nevada . . .

Farmers use 75% of all the annually available water in Nevada, mostly for irrigating alfalfa.

This excessive amount results from farmers’ insistence on flood irrigation – the most wasteful possible method.

When you consider that all Nevada residents, combined, only use 17% of our state’s water, the farmers are exceeding their fair share.

SOLUTION

By simply switching to drip irrigation, farmers could use 40% less water, have higher crop yields, use less labor, and provide Nevada an annual water surplus of 30%.

Issue #2: ENERGY

Current Situation:

• Nevada uses 11 times more energy than it produces, requiring 85% of its energy needs to be purchased from other states.

• Hoover Dam’s electricity-generating capacity has dropped almost 50% because of Lake Mead’s low water level, and could eventually produce no electricity at all.

• Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are not a stand-alone solution for multiple reasons, including: inconsistent availability, immediate and long-term environmental damage, and their need for unsustainable government subsidies.

Solution

BUILD a NUCLEAR GENERATING PLANT (made possible by using some of our saved irrigation water)

• Nuclear-generated electricity is inexpensive, safe, and an environmentally clean energy source. Just one nuclear plant would reduce Nevada’s energy needs by 25%. Building 2 nuclear plants would cut the state’s energy shortfall in half.

A Reasonable Question: Great idea, but even one nuclear generating plant would require 50,000-acre feet of water per year to cool its equipment during the generating process. Where would that water come from when Nevada has no water surplus and Las Vegas is already drinking treated sewage?

Answer: The 50,000 acre feet of cooling water would come from the more than ONE MILLION acre feet of water per year that would be saved by Nevada farmers switching to drip-style irrigation.

The remaining 900,000 acre feet of surplus water – annually – could be stored in reservoirs and aquifers for future use as Nevada grows.

Issue #3: PUBLIC SCHOOLS STATEWIDE

Current Situation:

Nevada has maintained the provably worst schools in the nation for decades. They’re academically dysfunctional, violent, morally/behaviorally broken, drug-saturated. . .and getting worse every year.

• The problem is not a lack of money.

Nevada spends billions every year on students and staff, while our schools steadily get worse. Numerous states spend less money and get far better results.

• The solution is not failed buzzwords like charter schools, school choice, magnet schools, career schools, education savings accounts, etc. None of those band aids have improved the education quality for most of Nevada’s half-a-million public school students.

There is only one primary reason why Nevada public schools continue to fail.

They do not have to compete for students.

Therefore, there is only one solution to our education problem, and all candidates should support it.

VOUCHERS!

Full-amount, no-strings attached vouchers for the parents of every school-age child.

Nothing less than allowing free-market competition for students and education funds will improve Nevada’s education quality.

With no private sector competition, with no consequences for their complete failure, and with guaranteed lifetime employment and pensions, where is the motivation for Nevada’s 54,000 public school employees to do a better job?

Governor Lombardo could begin implementing full vouchers immediately by rightfully declaring Nevada’s public schools to be in a State of Emergency. This would give him full control of all state schools and the ability to implement full vouchers with or without legislative support.

Issue #4: Homelessness, aka: Vagrancy-by-Choice

Current Situation:

Nevada’s current homeless population is the largest since The Great Recession, 38 years ago. Nationally, the state’s per capita homeless rates consistently rank among the 10 worst.

• Clark County reported a 20% increase in its homeless population in the past year.

• Washoe County was so afraid to report the explosive growth of their own vagrant population, that they refused to perform the federally-mandated Point in Time” homeless count last year. Instead, they decided to just “measure the homeless our own way,” and declared a (ridiculously false) 4% increase.

The Problem

Nevada continues to accept federal “Low Barrier” funding for its government run homeless programs and shelters.

• A key requirement of Low Barrier funding is NOT allowing recipient organizations to force their homeless clients to: 1) Have a job, 2) Stop using drugs and alcohol, or 3) Accept counseling and Bible-based classes.

• Unfortunately, history doesn’t record a single, successful homeless program that did not require Items 1, 2, and 3.

As a result, Nevada has many Low Barrier homeless programs, housed in multi-million dollar facilities. NONE of them, however, are accomplishing anything but attracting thousands of more vagrants, criminals, and addicts from across the nation.

SOLUTION

Stop Accepting Federal Funding for Homeless Programs.

Then, all communities will be able to do what every successful, privately-funded homeless program has always done.

• Allow no drugs or alcohol.

• Require all clients to work and participate in classes that support their moral and spiritual growth.

• Get excellent results in transforming wasted lives.

What can you do if your candidates do not strongly support the ONLY solutions for solving Nevada’s severe problems with schools, water/energy shortages, and out-of-control vagrancy . . .

Find new candidates.

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!

*************************

Legal Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this article, authored by Paul White, are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of Nevada Globe. This content is provided for informational purposes only and has not been endorsed by Nevada Globe. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the content contained on this site for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Nevada Globe is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on any information contained within the article. No guarantee is given that the information provided in this article is correct, complete, or up-to-date.

Although this article may include links providing direct access to other Internet resources, including websites, Nevada Globe is not responsible for the accuracy or content of information contained in these sites.

Links from Nevada Globe to third-party sites do not constitute an endorsement by Nevada Globe of the parties or their products and services. The appearance on the website of advertisements and product or service information does not constitute an endorsement by Nevada Globe, and Nevada Globe has not investigated the claims made by any advertiser.