The climate crisis continues to deepen throughout the Southwestern U.S. as severe heat waves and dwindling groundwater reserves threaten the vitality, livability, and economic future of the growing region. It’s an unfavorable prognosis that requires the intervention of invention.

A pioneer in the computing space named Alan Kay said these words over 50 years ago. And they summarize our current situation in the Southwest U.S. quite well. With heat waves getting more severe, along with dwindling groundwater, the unfavorable prognosis for the region requires the intervention of invention.

“GOED is actively building an electric, innovative and connected Nevada future,” said Tom Burns, executive director at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). “We certainly recognize the contributions mining and hospitality have made to the state. But we take advantage of building and expanding other sectors by bringing companies into Nevada. As new industries emerge this will provide career opportunities for our kids as well as diversifying our tax base.”

The Manhattan Beach Studios Group is going to Vegas. The company, also known as MBS Group, is part of a consortium that will build and manage a 34-acre media production and multi-use facility complex at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in the southwest section of the city.

From our valley’s record-breaking temperatures to low water levels at Lake Mead, the southwest faces big challenges on a warming planet. Since the very first Earth Day that took place on April 22, 1970, Nevada has warmed and so has the rest of the country.

A team of researchers at the Desert Research Institute and UNLV is joining forces with other regional universities to study climate challenges in the water-scarce Southwest as part of the project funded by the National Science Foundation.

The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine will be created with $15 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. It involves several entities including the Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Utah and Arizona State University.

This project’s vision is to support and strengthening the growth of Nevada’s regional lithium batteries and other electric vehicle materials loop technology clusters in both southern and northern Nevada that allow high-growth technology and promising renewable energy and storage startups to connect with investors, mentors, and industry experts.