Echoing policies he laid out early in his administration, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo released a climate plan that calls for keeping natural gas in the state’s energy mix. 

Lombardo on Aug. 8 announced the release of the Nevada Climate Innovation Plan, which “seeks to mitigate the changing patterns of the environment, while also considering economic realities and national security,” according to a release. 

The plan said Nevada needs to find ways to maintain energy reliability while also “potentially decreasing emissions … over a sensible time frame.” That means an approach that includes natural gas, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, hydrogen, energy efficiency and energy storage projects. 

“Nevada can’t persist with the mentality that everything must transition to sustainable energy overnight,” the plan said. 

Statements in the new plan are consistent with what the Republican governor said in a March 2023 executive order that called for “diverse energy options” in the state, including natural gas and renewables. (See New Governor Seeks Shift in Nevada Energy Policy.) 

Lombardo’s goal of having an energy portfolio that includes natural gas prompted the governor to pull Nevada from the U.S. Climate Alliance last year. (See Nevada Exits US Climate Alliance.) 

Nevada’s new climate plan stands in contrast to the state’s 2020 Climate Strategy, developed under previous Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), which called for transitioning away from natural gas to meet the state’s 2050 net-zero emissions goal. 

Minerals, Rangeland

The new Climate Innovation Plan sets broad goals in areas such as regulatory reform and economic and educational opportunities. 

One objective is to modernize the state’s energy infrastructure — a goal that comes with a caveat. 

“With the undeniable effects of inflation occurring across the nation, we must be mindful of cost,” the plan said.  

Another section of the plan, focused on rangeland management, lists wildfire prevention strategies such as controlled burns, strategic grazing and invasive species removal. 

The plan points to critical mineral production in Nevada, as well as the state’s “Lithium Loop” — a U.S. Economic Development Administration-designated technology hub. The hub plans to grow technology across the full lifecycle of lithium batteries, from lithium extraction and processing to battery manufacturing and recycling. 

The EDA last month recommended the tech hub for $21 million in grant funding. 

The climate plan criticizes the federal government for taking actions including national monument designations that have blocked access to critical mineral assets in the state. More than 80% of Nevada land is federally controlled, the plan noted. 

In March 2023, Lombardo blasted the Biden administration for its designation of the Avi Kwa Ame national monument, which the governor said would disrupt rare earth mineral mining in Southern Nevada. 

“The federal confiscation of 506,814 acres of Nevada land is a historic mistake that will cost Nevadans for generations to come,” Lombardo said in a statement at the time. 

Climate Actions Underway

More than 20 pages of the 33-page Climate Innovation Plan are devoted to climate initiatives already underway within various state departments. 

Among the programs listed is an incentive for residents to replace older wood-burning stoves with cleaner-burning models. In the Governor’s Office of Energy, the Renewable Energy Tax Abatement (RETA) program gives sales- and property-tax breaks to eligible renewable energy projects. 

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection received a $3 million planning grant from the U.S. EPA to develop a short-term Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) and a more in-depth Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP). (See Nevada Draft Climate Plan Outlines GHG-reduction Priorities.) 

The PCAP was completed this year. The CCAP is due in July 2025.