Presente.org is going all in in Nevada. And, we have to.
Nevada is a state that could decide the outcome of the Presidency and U.S. Senate, as well as the future of a clean energy economy. In 2015, Governor Sandoval and the representatives he appointed to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) single-handedly killed rooftop solar, tripling solar user fees starting January 1st and making the decision retroactive, so even the past 17,000 solar users thinking they would get reimbursements over time were lied to. The quick “bait and switch” policy was implemented at the urging of Nevada’s corporate monopoly utility, NV Energy, which has contributed the maximum campaign contribution allowed under Nevada law of $20,000 to Governor Sandoval’s two elections. In addition, NV Energy’s primary lobbyists, including Pete Ernaut and Gregory W. Ferraro, are two of the Governor’s closest advisors, with Ernaut managing Sandoval’s gubernatorial campaign. Nevada made its solar energy decisions not based on an economy that benefits all, but to appease the hands that feed Governor Sandoval’s campaign donations.
Nevada, as the state with the fifth-highest percentage of Latinxs in the nation, is widely looked upon as representative of the changing face of our country. While the Latinx vote has been extensively covered in Nevada, Latinxs have almost been entirely absent from the debate over Nevada’s clean energy future. Nevada stands at the crossroads of a question our country and the world has to answer: will the clean energy we all need to survive on this planet belong to everyone, bringing jobs and prosperity for all, or just to elite monopolies like NV Energy, benefiting a few? Unfortunately, Nevada has so far answered: clean energy for a few.
Presente.org firmly believes that power of the sun should belong to everyone. Indigenous communities, including those with roots in Mexico, Central America, and South America, have been fighting for an environment for all for generations. We have been unrecognized leaders in the clean energy fight. Latinx people must be able to engage in a new clean energy economy as leaders and deciders of when, how, where, and for what solar energy will be used. We refuse to be just the labor (the braceros) that builds a clean energy economy with no decision-making power, we want to be owners of it.
It is with this in mind that Presente.org is entering Nevada in dramatic fashion, just as they eyes of the nation are trained on the state for the last Presidential debate. Led on the ground by Eric Chavez, the eldest grandson of Cesar Chavez, Presente.org has procured both a taco truck and a solar generator to be deployed near the site of the debate to make an impassioned statement about the place of Latinxs in the upcoming election and in Nevada’s clean energy future. The site will be a gathering place for Latinxs and our allies to tell our stories about how a clean energy economy affects us as we decide the future of our country in the November elections.
The taco truck is simply Presente.org’s first stop. We’ll be pushing the Nevada Legislature to look beyond campaign contributions to the actual lives of the people it’s meant to represent, advocating for the policies that our communities know will make solar energy equitable for all. Latinx communities in the United States have a strong history of organizing for the rights of all, and we will make sure clean energy is no exception to our ancestry.
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Matt Nelson, Eric Chavez, and the Presente.org Team