Climate Point: Las Vegas outlaws 'non-functional' turf, should California follow suit?

Welcome to Climate Point, your weekly guide to climate, energy and the environment. I'm Erin Rode in Palm Springs, California.

Here in the Golden State, many homeowners have swapped out their lawns for drought-tolerant landscaping. But there are still some holdouts, who may finally make the swap after June 1, when millions of Southern Californians will fall under a new restriction that reduces outdoor watering to one day a week. Gov. Gavin Newsom has also called for a ban on irrigating grass or “non-functional” turf that serves only an aesthetic purpose at large commercial and public institutions. 

In Las Vegas, keeping turf grass deemed “non-functional” is no longer an option. A new state law mandates the removal of turf lawns at housing developments and commercial sites in and around Las Vegas, the first law of its kind in the nation, reports Henry Fountain for the New York Times. 

Southern California could possibly learn from Las Vegas, Israel, and other places on how to use less water, Hayley Smith and Ian James report for the Los Angeles Times. In Israel, the country invested heavily in water recycling, and now recycles and resuses as much as 90% of its wastewater. In California, just 23% of municipal wastewater is recycled. 

Here are some other stories of interest. 

Must-read stories

“Amtrak Joe.” Here in Palm Springs, I’ve been eagerly hoping for the long-promised improved train service — we currently only receive limited Amtrak service, with trains arriving three times a week in the middle of the night. And now is the time for long-awaited improvements to Amtrak service across the country, with a president nicknamed “Amtrak Joe” and a recent allocation of $66 billion for Amtrak in last year’s infrastructure package. Improved rail service also plays an important role in meeting the country’s climate goals, by reducing dependence on automobiles. 

But a battle over Amtrak’s Gulf Coast line could have major implications for the future of passenger rail, Lina Tran reports for Grist. Amtrak has been trying to restore service between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, a route that was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The two freight rail companies that own most of the tracks are arguing that resuming passenger services would cause traffic on their routes and slow down the supply chain. While Amtrak trains are supposed to get priority on the country’s mostly privately owned railways, this is only as long as Amtrak doesn’t “unreasonably impair” business. The dispute is currently before federal regulators, and public transit advocates are worried that a loss could motivate freight companies to stop expanded passenger service elsewhere. 

30x30. The Biden administration’s “30x30” campaign aims to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Reaching this benchmark and others set by states will largely depend on private landowners choosing to set their property aside for conservation, Alex Brown reports for the Washington Post. 

Across the country, conservation land trusts have seen a spike in interest in the past few years. The groups work to save land from potential development by either acquiring it or negotiating conservation easements with the property owners. But the growing interest in preserving private property is also sparking debate between supporters and critics who say conservation easement programs take away individual property rights, as conservation easements last in perpetuity, even if the land ownership changes hands. 

Fire season

$65 million. Fighting the Calf Canyon fire in New Mexico has cost $65 million, and costs are expected to keep climbing as the blaze potentially causes more destruction, and as the state looks toward rebuilding, Susan Montoya Bryan reports for the Associated Press. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday that the cost of reconstructing homes, preventing post-fire flooding and restoring the forest will likely reach billions of dollars. The fire was partially caused by a preventative fire that escaped containment. 

The wildfire has consumed more than 200,000 acres, making it the largest active blaze in the U.S. at the beginning of what is expected to be an unusually intense fire season. The Western U.S. is dealing with increasingly large and intense wildfires, over longer fire seasons, due to the heat and dry conditions intensified with climate change. 

Controlled burns. Meanwhile, climate change is also making controlled burns more difficult to execute, Raymond Zhong reports for the New York Times. The U.S. Forest Service used prescribed, or controlled, fire on a record 1.8 million acres of federal land last year, and aims to treat an additional 50 acres with fire and mechanical brush thinning over the next decade. But with global warming making large parts of the country drier and hotter, the longer wildfire season is shrinking the window of when controlled burns can be done safely. Shifting rain and wind patterns are also making things more complicated. 

Tree removal lawsuit. In Ventura County, California, the county, the city of Ojai, conservation groups, and outdoor retailer Patagonia have sued the U.S. Forest Service over the agency’s plan to cut trees and clear brush from a stretch of Los Padres National Forest, Cheri Carlson reports for the Ventura County Star. The complaints say the Forest Service violated federal environmental law when it approved the project, which would remove thick strands of chaparral and cut down pine and fir trees in a roughly 750-acre area of the forest, creating a fuel break that the agency says will help protect against large wildfires. 

Hot takes

Office of Environmental Justice. The Biden administration announced plans for a new Office of Environmental Justice that will focus on addressing pollution and climate impacts in vulnerable communities. E&E News

50-50. There’s a chance Earth will reach a critical climate change mark by 2026, a new report found. USA Today 

Hot, hot, hot. A May heat wave across the central and northeastern U.S. is challenging record high temperatures typically seen in July. USA Today 

Heat, drought and wildfires. California is facing a summer of extremes, including severe drought, heat waves, and devastating wildfires. Los Angeles Times 

Hurricane season. Warming sea surface temperatures are helping drive hurricanes that intensify rapidly as they near land. USA Today

Artificial reefs. Giant concrete Wiffle Ball-shaped reefs are being used to combat shoreline erosion along the Long Island Sound. Rockland/Westchester Journal News

And another thing

It’s a simple solution for cities combating climate change: give away free trees to residents. In Florida, these plans recently hit a snag when the city of Port St. Lucie advertised a native tree giveaway for residents. The problem? Neither of the two trees offered were native to Florida, Max Chesnes reports for Treasure Coast Newspapers.