Opinion: Nevada can’t afford to abandon TRPA
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the March 24, 2011, Reno Gazette-Journal.
Let’s be clear: Regardless of what happens to Senate Bill 271 in the Nevada Legislature, the state will not be able to walk away from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency pact.
That’s because the compact that created the TRPA, signed in 1969 by Gov. Paul Laxalt of Nevada and Gov. Ronald Reagan of California, both Republicans, is not simply an agreement between two states. It is also an agreement with the federal government, which determined that the lake is of special national interest and has provided much of the money used for projects needed to protect the lake from the man-made and natural contamination that has reduced its famous clarity.
An attempt by Nevada to withdraw from the compact is sure to be met with opposition in Congress. If the bill is adopted, Nevada will quickly find itself in the federal court fighting legal actions that it is unlikely to win.
It’s a gamble that the state simply cannot afford.
OPINION: It’s a new world Nevada. Don’t believe everything you read in this article. You have just as good a chance now than ever to breakaway. Business and the public are behind you now more than ever before so break up this entity which has no other concern but to gain tax dollars to keep its sad self going in the eye of a storm. The TRPA hides behind the lake clarity issue to keep its holy existence. The key is to let congress know lake clarity is more related to weather and other non-human events which the TRPA will never be able to halt – and they know it. It keeps them employed. Go Nevada! CA get on board!
Do the readers realize that Lake Tahoe is a national treasure, not something to be “protected” by a locally elected “good old boy” network? Sheesh! All we need is the same group of people messing with the Lake who are in charge of the City. Nevada should keep someone on that Board as a watchdog.