It’s hot in Nevada. There’s no denying it. All communities are feeling it. 

But one community that is really facing the economic brunt of Nevada heat is the Latino community in Southern Nevada.

EcoMadres — a subdivision of Moms Clean Air Force, a nonprofit that tries to raise awareness of the impact of heat and pollution on communities — held a summit on the topic Saturday at the offices of progressive advocacy group Make the Road Nevada.

Community members shared stories about heat- and pollution-related illnesses, high utility bills and how climate change is disproportionately impacting communities of color.

Nevada’s already dry climate is continuing to change, with Reno being ranked as the nation's fastest-warming city for the second year in a row, with average annual temperatures having warmed by 7.8 degrees over the span of 54 years.

Dr. Debra Hendrickson, pediatrician and author of the book The Air They Breathe, which examines how pollution and heat affect children, said, “study after study shows the exacerbation of pollution disproportionately impacting minorities. It’s an intergenerational impact, and what makes it so disproportionate is that the main contributors of pollution bear the least direct impact.”

Hendrickson also shared that UNR did a heat mapping study in 2024 that showed that temperatures would be 20 degrees hotter in lower-income neighborhoods in the late afternoon because of sparser tree canopy and more urban infrastructure such as extensive paved roads and parking lots.

Many of the speakers’ stories illuminated this issue, but much of the conversation was solution-oriented with tips on how Latino community members can advocate for themselves and their families while facing climate change in a warming desert.

Maria Prentice, 70

Before Maria Prentice moved to Las Vegas, she used to love hiking and going on walks — something she isn’t able to do now because of her asthma brought on by heat and pollution, she said.

Nevada actually has the sixth-lowest rate in the nation for asthma, with only 8.8 percent of adults having reported ever being told by a health professional that they have the condition, but ranked 47th among states for air quality, meaning Nevadans on average are exposed to more air pollution than the average American, according to America’s Health Rankings.

America’s Health Rankings says the following populations are more likely to be exposed to air pollution: 

• Individuals living in low-income communities
• Individuals living in urban areas
• Black, Asian and Hispanic populations.

Prentice is a member of Chispa Nevada and EcoMadres, two groups that focus on how Latino communities interact with the environment. 

She said her husband died 10 months ago and now she lives off of Social Security while trying to raise her grandson. 

“I’m not getting help from anyone,” Prentice said. “I have to budget everything, and the bills are really stressing me out. I’m having to decide between energy bills or groceries, and [my grandson] is the one who’s suffering. I can’t buy him any clothes. He’s wearing pajama pants and T-shirts to school because that’s all he has.”

She said she’s told her story multiple times to raise awareness for people in situations similar to hers. The main thing she hopes is that legislators will really listen.

“I’m the voice for the parents that might not be able to be here because they have work, for the elderly that can’t be here, for those that are too sick to be here,” she said. “I love to help my community. Some of these parents don’t even have food on the weekends. They weren't doing drugs or anything bad, it’s just bills. They’re so expensive, and there’s a lack of resources to help them.”

Karla Banderas, 33, and Ana Jacqueline, 52

Karla Banderas has five children at home to take care of. She said NV Energy cut off her power and then served her with a massive electric bill.

“It’s hard and also just heartbreaking,” Banderas said. “Even if I work really hard I can’t pay.”

Banderas and her mother, Ana Jacqueline, work two jobs to make ends meet, and she said it’s still not enough. Banderas said it feels like she is practically working for NV Energy and that she has no money left for other necessities.

According to an analysis of government data by Lending Tree — an online loan marketplace — Nevadans’ average electricity bill in August 2024 was ninth-highest in the country, averaging more than $200 a month.

NV Energy does have a few assistance programs meant to help with payments and high bills. In a statement NV Energy encouraged those with concerns to call and speak with a representative for questions about payments, bills or getting connected with assistance programs.

Banderas shared that her 11-year-old daughter is considering working to help with bills.

“That’s what breaks my heart the most,” Banderas said. “She’s 11. She shouldn’t even be thinking about working — she should be focused on school and hanging out with her friends.”

Mary Wagner, 36

Mary Wagner, Nevada field organizer for EcoMadres, said she originally wanted to help undocumented immigrants but soon realized there’s more affecting her community than she thought.

“As I started doing my work, I found that we all have the same story,” Wagner said. “The environment can impact health, and that can easily become a pocketbook issue for people in my community.”

Wagner said her son has asthma, and in the summer, he has more respiratory issues. She said the safest option is keeping him inside during the warmer months, adding that her story isn’t unique.

“I get to work with community members who are mothers in the community and whose children also have respiratory issues,” she said. “Not only do they have to worry about the health of their children, but they’re also struggling to pay their bills, because when we have extreme heat we're paying higher energy bills, and then we add on top of that medical bills.”

Dr. Joanne Leovy, Founder of Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action, quoted author Jeff Goodell about how the growing inequality in the country is forcing low income families to pick either groceries or air conditioning. 

“You’re either cool or you’re cooked,” she said 

Leovy has solar panels on her home, drives an electric car and has done various weatherization projects, which she says makes her utility bills relatively cheap based on her income as a physician.

Incomes of those who use solar are decreasing over time, going from $138,000 in 2010 to $115,000 in 2020, showing that solar panel usage is slowly becoming more proportionately distributed across incomes, according to a Berkeley Lab study.

Still, compared with the broader population, solar users tend to have higher education levels, be middle-aged, work in business and finance-related occupations, live in higher-value homes and live in neighborhoods with higher average credit scores.

“There's no reason that we need to accept that kind of inequality, where higher-income people actually can lower their bills and low income people are suffering from heat. This is a changeable thing,” Leovy said.

Assm. Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas) said he has been pushing for that very thing in the Nevada Assembly. 

“I introduced AB458 to enable solar to be deployed on our affordable housing across the state of Nevada,” Watts said. “Renting versus owning is a huge barrier for being able to deploy solar, and in apartments, it is very complicated. How can you put solar on the roofs of those apartment buildings, on the parking structures, and then how do you get that to each tenant that’s in that apartment? And so what we did was create a system that allows that to happen.”

Watts wanted to find a way to get all parties involved, including affordable housing developers, local governments, nonprofits and others who want to make those investments in their communities.