PLAN -- In The News - 2007

November 06, 2007 — EASTERN NEVADA: Bigger pipeline plan floated —Water authority's high-end estimate reaches $3.5 billion . . . This is clearly a low-ball estimate," said Bob Fulkerson, executive director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "I'm really suspicious of how they calculate their numbers. I think they're throwing darts at a board."

Fulkerson said the authority would be better served by investing the public's money in programs designed to reduce the demand for water in Las Vegas. "Conservation is a proven source," he said. "The pipeline is a major gamble as to whether that water is even there." — LRJ.com

November 01, 2007 — Nuclear summer on its way? — Opposition to coal power plants is helping create interest in nuclear plants — Critics of nuclear power say alternative energy sources, such as Ormat's 12.5-megawatt Yankee Caithness geothermal complex south of Reno, can provide enough energy to prevent a revival of nuclear power. They face skepticism. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid may find that his opposition to coal fired power plants is working too well . . . Critics of the Yucca Mountain project express doubt about a comeback for nuclear power plants. "I don't think so," said Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "There's so much going on in alternative energy. Why go to those two types of energy that are non-sustainable and unhealthy? If you put a solar power facility in a community, you'd probably get 100 percent support." — By Dennis Myers - newsreview.com

November 01, 2007 — Night for knocking on doors picked to register new voters Halloween is a political organizer's dream," said A.J. McClure, Southern Nevada director of PLAN. "People are expecting folks to come to their doors, so we figured it would be a great time to try and register voters and inform them about the upcoming caucuses." — Las Vegas Review Journal

August 31, 2007 — Nevada group says big health insurer should donate $500 million — Nevada group says big health insurer should donate $500 million CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - UnitedHealth Group Inc., which won conditional state approval to acquire Nevada's largest health insurer for $2.6 billion, should set up a $500 million fund to ease this state's health care crisis, a public interest group said Friday . . . .The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada asked Gov. Jim Gibbons to demand that UnitedHealth create the fund as part of its purchase of Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services Inc.

PLAN executive director Bob Fulkerson noted in a letter to Gibbons that when UnitedHealth merged with PacifiCare, California's insurance commissioner required the Minnesota-based company to provide $250 million to fund preventive care, technology and education programs.

"The best our insurance commissioner could do in this regard was assert, 'United and Sierra will continue, and build on, their charitable giving and philanthropic activities,'" Fulkerson said. — AP

August 22, 2007 — Big Water Battle Brewing With Snake Valley, Utah — A new battle is brewing over Las Vegas water. This time it's pitting the Southern Nevada Water Authority against the state of Utah. . . . Launce Rake with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada says pumping the amount of water Las Vegas needs from the area would lower the water table at least 50 feet. Rake said, "There is no desert vegetation with root systems that deep. So, what does that mean? The vegetation dies." — LasVegasNow.com (Related Story)

August 13, 2007 — Groups petition state commission — A week after U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke out against coal-fired power plants, a coalition of groups petitioned the Nevada State Environmental Commission to draft rules that would limit the amount of pollution the plants can emit. The petition would put a moratorium on conventional coal-fired plants, until the commission places limits on carbon dioxide emissions — Las Vegas City Life  (More Information on this topic)

August 01, 2007 — Delay sought for Nevada power plants — CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Seven groups concerned about plans for big coal-fired power plants in Nevada want the state Environmental Commission to hold up on any permits for the ventures until the panel adopts limits on pollutants emitted by such plants — AP

August 01, 2007 — GROUNDWATER TAPPING: Battle with Utah brewing — In what could be the first salvo in an all-out water war, Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy is blasting a push by Utah lawmakers who want a federal study of her agency's plans to tap groundwater across eastern Nevada . . . .A 50-foot drop in the water table would kill the vegetation that holds the desert soil in place, said Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada spokesman Launce Rake. If that happens, he said, dust storms could result. He points to California's Owens Valley, which was pumped dry to give Los Angeles water. Owens Valley winter dust storms cause the nation's worst particulate air pollution. — Las Vegas Review Journal

July 27, 2007 — Former AMA head opposes health insurance merger — RENO - The past president of the American Medical Association urged Nevada's insurance commissioner Thursday to deny the application by United Health Group, one of the nation's largest healthcare insurers, to buy Sierra Health Services, which operates Health Plan of Nevada — . . . Plested and others, including Bob Fulkerson, of Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, and Jon Sasser of Nevada Legal Services, said their figures show the merger would give United Health 90 percent of the Las Vegas area HMO market and control of 80 percent of the market statewide. "We have serious doubts the proposed merger is going to be beneficial to Nevada consumers," Fulkerson said. — Nevada Appeal

July 21, 2007 — Thirsty Las Vegas seeks more rural Nevada water —CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Central Nevada farmers like Roderick McKenzie fear booming Las Vegas is going to suck them dry. They're fighting a plan to pump billions of gallons of water south across the desert, saying it would eat up groundwater supplies and could spell the end for ranchers and farmers in rural valleys. . . . "The availability of water in these basins is highly suspect," added Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "It's a desert, with barely water enough for the farmers and ranchers whose lives depend on it." "SNWA could turn this vast area into a national sacrifice zone for the sake of unchecked growth in Las Vegas," Fulkerson said. — AP

July 15, 2007 — Making money, raising eyebrows — Gov. Jim Gibbons and top Nevada legislators may have failed last week to persuade the state public employees' pension fund to dump its investments in Sudan, but the complaint they lodged is just the beginning. . . . Bob Fulkerson, director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a liberal political group, called the investments in Nuclear Energy Institute members disappointing. "We should not be aiding and abetting our enemies," Fulkerson said. Similarly, Yucca Mountain critic Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said the holdings underline "a disconnect between the investment strategy of the PERS board and Nevada policy." "I had no idea it was occurring," Loux said. "It does help the companies pay their dues to the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the NEI has lobbyists, although they have not been effective on Capitol Hill. If I didn't think Yucca Mountain was on its last legs, I'd be a little more concerned." — Las Vegas Sun

July 10, 2007 — Authority sets sights on Lincoln watersheds — With water now in hand at the north end of its proposed pipeline from White Pine County to Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Water Authority is turning its attention to the basins in between . . . .Pipeline opponents are already promising to pack that hearing. Bob Fulkerson, state director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said the absence of any official protest from Lincoln County shouldn't make that much of a difference. "This will still be a contentious hearing," Fulkerson said. "They (Lincoln County officials) can make all the agreements they want, but that doesn't negate the damage that this project is going to do to the land out there." — Las Vegas Review Journal

July 05, 2007 — Group Gives Reid Apples, Ensign Lemons — FOX 5 News, Local Las Vegas

June 21, 2007 — Nevada Supreme Court wants to limit some judges' fundraising — CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Judges and activist groups clashed Thursday at the Nevada Supreme Court as they debated a proposal by the court to ban fundraising for judges running unopposed in elections . . . Jan Gilbert of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a group that has pushed for campaign finance reform, said the cost of running for a judicial post has skyrocketed. "We don't want to see our judges have to go out and ask for money," Gilbert said. "We want to see money out of politics." A PLAN-sponsored report on judicial elections, "Supreme Jackpot," reported the average amount raised to win a Nevada Supreme Court seat in 2004 was up 73 percent - to nearly $544,000 per candidate - compared with the 2002 elections. Most of the money came from lawyers, the casino industry and other special interests. — Las Vegas Sun

June 17, 2007 — No doubt, special interests dominate — Las Vegas Sun

June 14, 2007 — Crashing the party — THE SPRINGS PRESERVE -- A COLLECTION OF MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND GARDENS on Valley View Boulevard near U.S. 95 -- celebrated its grand opening in true Las Vegas style.There was mood-setting music. Kite "artists" put on an aerial display. And the media descended on the event in droves, jostling for position near the entrance. But those crotchety old liberals at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada crashed the party.

A week before the June 8 grand opening, PLAN put out a news release condemning the Springs Preserve. It called the preserve "The Museum for What Used to Be Here" and said the Las Vegas Valley Water District is using the preserve to promote its water-mining ambitions.

"Sorry to ruin the party," said Launce Rake, PLAN's communications director. "The Springs Preserve has gotten an enormous amount of fawning media coverage, but the truth is it's a $250 million public-relations fig leaf for an agency that is committed to destroying the environment of our neighbors. That kind of environmental record does not speak well to sustainability, and they say the preserve is all about sustainability." — by MATT O'BRIEN Las Vegas City Life

June 11, 2007 — State creates water panel — A new government entity will help guide water policy in Washoe County but won't have nearly as much power as originally proposed by state lawmakers . . . "The bottom line is they don't have the power to set rates and acquire water now," said Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. "The original bill was horrible -- like a ratepayers' nightmare." — Reno Gazette Journal

June 10, 2007 — 2007 LEGISLATURE: Here's news you may have missed CARSON CITY -- Hey, you. Yeah, you, who never bothered to read a word the Review-Journal printed about the 2007 Legislature. It's time you paid attention, because lawmakers might have done something worth noting . . . Jan Gilbert, a longtime legislative lobbyist for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, maintains 2007 will go down in annals as a great session for liberals.The Legislature increased the stipend for welfare families, set 15 years ago at $348 a month, to $383. Legislators also rejected moves to do anything about illegal immigration, killed a bill to make English the official language and refused to take Millennium Scholarships away from worthy noncitizen students. "Those immigration bills were mean-spirited," Gilbert said. "Why should we deny the Millennium Scholarship to children who didn't do anything wrong?" — Las Vegas Review Journal

June 09, 2007 — Environmental Advocates Praise 74th Legislature — Nevada's environmental advocates are celebrating this week after a flurry of bills intended to protect the state's air, water and energy resources passed the state Legislature. Bob Fulkerson is executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a nonprofit environmental and social advocacy group. He says it's probably one of the best sessions for the environment, that he has seen since he started advocacy at the Legislature in 1985. — News 4 Reno

June 06, 2007 — New study: Utah could lose west desert water to thirsty Nevada — Aquifers beneath the west desert are more connected than previously believed, indicating that a project to pump groundwater to Las Vegas from central Nevada valleys could impact neighboring Utah farmers and wildlife . . . After 10 years, state and federal authorities will determine whether the pumping has been harmful to the environment. If the impacts are not too great, the Nevada water authority could then pump an additional 20,000 acre-feet a year from Spring Valley to Las Vegas.

But that could be too late for fragile desert vegetation and wildlife that depend on it, said Launce Rake, spokesman for Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. Because the aquifers are so connected, a drawdown in Spring Valley will reduce flows to Snake Valley, he said. "One of our real concerns is that we won't know what's going to happen until it starts happening," Rake said. "But there are going to be impacts in vegetation, wildlife and on the livelihoods of folks in Snake Valley. That's the bottom line," Rake said — Salt Lake Tribune

May 29, 2007 — Poste from the Las Vegas Gleaner Blog — Miniglean — # Whatever budgetary micro-dispute it was that the nation's creepiest governor and most pointless Legislature were yammering on about over the last four months or so appears to be settled. And so a key piece of bidness for the Nevada legislative session winds down with a hale and hearty and oh-so fitting "never mind." AP

# Meantime, some War Party ass clown named Mark Amodei who thinks water should belong to private, for-profit companies and sold only to those who can afford it (Is your family thirsty? Let the market decide!), is trying to hold up a bill designed to protect people from mercury poisoning. Why? Because he's miffed over the emasculation of a bill that would have given juiced up cronies of his masters the right to decide who can profit and who gets hosed from the allocation of water in the greater Reno area, that's why. That's the way we read this newslet, anyway.

In an action alert, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Sierra Club, Great Basin Mine Watch and the Nevada Conservation League say you people should call Sen. Raggio at 775-684-1419 and tell him to ignore this Amodei creature and let the mercury bill (AB 115, supported by everyone, even the mining cats) pass.

And -- who knows? -- maybe you should. Given the utter insignificance of this legislative session, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that a bill aiming to protect some young'ns from mercury might be the most consequential and far-reaching single action of the 2007 Nevada Legislature — Las Vegas Gleaner

May 25, 2007 — PLAN Press Release: GROUPS TO PROTEST GOVERNOR'S VETO THREATS, FUNDING PRIORITIES The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a coalition of dozens of Nevada organizations, announced plans for a Memorial Day Protest of Governor Jim Gibbons' budget priorities Monday morning in front of the Legislature building . . . .

May 24, 2007 — Northern Nevada water bill gutted in Assembly — CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A Nevada Senate bill to create a big water authority in Washoe County has been gutted by an amendment approved Thursday in the state Assembly . . . Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which opposed the water authority plan, said Amodei is using Assembly water bills with widespread support to revive his more controversial bills. "Amodei is scrapping these so he can get his horrible water bills passed that are only supported by developers," Fulkerson said. — AP

May 22, 2007 — Northern Nevadans speak out about immigration issue — The immigration policy being debated in Congress to provide a path for illegal immigrants to become permanent residents is raising concerns among Nevadans about whether it will tear families apart and reward people for breaking the law. . . . Ireri Rivas, an organizer of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition, said the $5,000 fine Congress is considering charging illegal immigrants before they could apply for residency would be difficult for most to pay. "It really would make it impossible for people who want a path to citizenship because most of them have low-paying jobs," she said. "And that $5,000 is only the fine. It doesn't include the money they would have to pay for the applications." — Reno Gazette Journal

May 19, 2007 — Pollution-free park plea — National Park Service warns of risks from coal-fired plant near Great Basin — A coal-fired power plant proposed for White Pine County would pollute Great Basin National Park, ruin views and kill trout that make the park so popular, the National Park Service said in a harsh letter to state officials . . . Construction of a plant that could fuel the Las Vegas Valley and drive pumps to transfer water from White Pine County to Southern Nevada is evidence of how growth in Southern Nevada is coming at the expense of rural Nevada's environment, said Launce Rake, spokesman for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a social-advocacy group. "These coal plants are related to the (Southern Nevada) Water Authority water grab and this idea that Nevada is some kind of sacrifice zone," he said. "By God, Nevada is not a sacrifice zone." — Las Vegas Sun

May 15, 2007 — Nevada law ahead on some issues, but lags on others — The cause of a warming climate may still be debated by some, but a growing number of scientists and policy makers are calling for an aggressive effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions many insist are at least partly, if not entirely, responsible. California is taking a leadership role , last year enacting first-of-their-kind laws to force major industries to cut carbon emissions. . . . "That alone says we're paying lip service to the idea we're doing something about global warming," agreed Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. Fulkerson pointed to last year's decision by Sempra Energy to halt its planned development of a 1,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Gerlach. The company killed its proposal in part due to decisions by officials in the Bay Area and Los Angeles not to buy power generated by coal-fired plants, Fulkerson said."If Nevada was serious, we would say the same thing -- not only would we not buy it, we would not build those things," Fulkerson said. — Reno Gazette Journal

April 29, 2007 — NEVADA VIEWS: Las Vegas shouldn't bank on rural water — Southern Nevada can't base future on roll of dice

By BOB FULKERSON
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL

Gleeful headlines and statements from the Southern Nevada Water Authority belie the truth about the state engineer's April 16 decision regarding Clark County's plan to import water from rural Nevada.

What the decision really indicates is that despite the best hydrologists money can buy, the water authority could not convince the state engineer that its models and projections were accurate. Instead, the state engineer's ruling shows that the water authority was not even close.

The water authority claimed that 91,000 acre-feet per year could . . . Read the full story

April 18, 2007 — Environmentalists urge Nevada activism on Earth Day — RENO, Nev. Environmentalist urged Nevadans on Wednesday to celebrate Earth Day by pressing state lawmakers and presidential candidates to address such issues as growth, water resources and mercury emissions at mines.

"We are encouraging people to get politically active, politically aware," said Bob Fulkerson, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance for Nevada.

"Earth Day is more than a celebration. We need to be vigilant and we need to be active in order to safeguard the quality of life we have here," he said. Earth Day is Sunday.

Fulkerson outlined his view of good and bad developments through the first half of the 2007 Nevada Legislature at a news conference attended by leaders of the Nevada Conservation League, Great Basin Water Network, Great Basin Mine Watch, Nevada Responsible Trails Alliance and Citizens for Sensible Growth — AP

April 16, 2007 — IN DEPTH: MEMBERSHIP REBOUNDS: STATE OF THE UNIONS — Bucking national trends, Nevada labor groups grow and flex muscle — Labor unions have seen better days. The country's share of union members has declined since 1983, the first year for which the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has data comparable with today's measures. . . . Other observers give partial credit for union growth to what they believe are growing inequities between Nevada's workers and managers. Bob Fulkerson, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, says reports of big paydays for local business executives have rankled the rank and file.

"The CEO of Harrah's (Gary Loveman) is making a little under $7,000 an hour, which is about 1,000 times more than the lowest-paid (leisure-sector) workers are making," Fulkerson says. "When workers see that, they realize the only way for them to be able to have a hand in that pie is through organizing." Intensive organizing efforts by local labor leaders have propelled unions' growth also, Fulkerson says. "We have some brilliant and dedicated organizers and leaders," Fulkerson says. "I think the (labor) leaders in Nevada are stars."

April 16. 2007 — Part-time Legislature keeps its citizen roots — CARSON CITY, Nev. - Every two years, a bunch of cowboys and city slickers gather in Nevada's capital city to hash out just what ought to be the law of the land. . . . Many hope Nevada never loses its citizen Legislature, even as growth in southern Nevada puts more pressure on the state to increase the time that lawmakers stay in session. "It's a remnant of our small-state, small-town heritage," said Bob Fulkerson, who lobbies the Legislature as executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a liberal citizens advocacy group. "Today, I know lawmakers, the good ones at least, get their ideas from ordinary people," Fulkerson said — AP

April 07, 2007 — Lawmaker accused of racism for English-only bill — Advocates praised a bill making English the official language of the state of Nevada during a state Senate hearing Friday - but critics labeled the plan as racist. State Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, defended his SB325 during the Government Affairs Committee hearing, interrupting witnesses who criticized the measure and insisting he had no "racist intent." He said 29 other states already have approved similar measures.

"Your proposal is racist in intent and is being proposed to divide Nevadans at the cost of the rights of Hispanic Nevadans," Rene Cantu of the Latin Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas told Beers. Cantu added that Hispanics make up a fourth to a third of the state's population — Nevada Appeal - Carson City