Nevada is quickly becoming a key center of the nation’s transition to clean energy.
That’s scrambling traditional political alliances, with Donald Trump loyalists embracing the Biden administration’s climate programs and some long-time Democratic voters pushing back against the pace of solar development. But as Benjamin Storrow writes, the shakeup has had little bearing on a presidential race dominated by issues such as the cost of living, immigration and abortion rights. Polls show that
climate ranks near the bottom of Nevada voters’ priorities, and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris rarely mention the issue on the stump. Nevada’s energy shift has largely been driven by President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. He signed into law four bills that direct a total of $1.6 trillion toward greening the economy and reviving domestic manufacturing.
Power companies are moving forward with plans to build major transmission lines across the state to move wind and solar energy between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast. Already booming, solar power is expected to grow even more in the state as the Biden administration finalizes a plan to open a swath of federal land larger than Maryland to new installations. And lithium mining is taking off, potentially unlocking an electric vehicle revolution.
Joni Eastley, a member of the town board in Tonopah, Nevada, supports lithium mining in the nearby desert, which is expected to create around 500 permanent jobs. That’s an economic bonanza in a community of 2,730. But for Eastley, that’s no reason to vote for Harris. When Ben asked her about Biden on a recent trip, she threw up her hands and flashed two thumbs down. “I should take you to the grocery store so you can look at the prices,” she said.
Some tribes and environmentalists, on the other hand, worry about the pace of clean energy development. Three hours to the east of Tonopah, Delaine Spilsbury — a Ely Shoshone tribe member and Harris supporter — is fighting a Biden administration plan to open 7,000 acres to solar development near a tribal sacred site.
Spilsbury drives a Cadillac Lyric, a luxury EV. A bumper sticker on her second car reads, “Make American Green Again.” And her son will soon install solar panels on her log cabin. Such political misalignments underscore the trade-offs the nation faces as it transforms its energy systems to curb planet-warming pollution. “I don't want to be against solar. I want to run my car,” Spilsbury said. “I just feel like they haven't done enough studying and positioning.”
| 
