ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. — The 2024 Lake Tahoe Summit kicked off Wednesday with this year's theme revolving around transportation, transit, trails and technology. This year's keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, emphasized investments in those areas with a goal to keep Tahoe blue.
Both Nevada and California lawmakers joined the summit to reiterate the importance of preserving Lake Tahoe.
"Apply all of your energy and knowledge and wisdom to protect this place, but also know that it will not be protected unless we think about the larger context," said Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA).
Democrats and Republican lawmakers put politics aside with one focus in mind — protecting the lake.
"We have this amazing national treasure right here and folks have to put politics to the side and we’ve just worked on ways to protect it for generations to come," said Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA).
"Making sure we are doing the work to continue to protect Tahoe and the Tahoe Summit," said Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA).
Wildfires have started to become an issue with protecting the area. The Caldor Fire in 2021 burned more than 220,000 acres and scientists say it could cause more problems.
"The fine thin particles, further away from the fire that maybe make the beautiful sunset, they have a lot do nutrients and metals that could stimulate algae growth," said Dr. Sudeep Chandra, University of Nevada, Reno.
On top of fires, with an increasing number of visitors coming to the area, transportation is an issue contributing to pollution. In order to help fight it, investments have been made into clean energy.
"On behalf of the Biden-Harris administration, I’m also thrilled to formally congratulate you on our almost $8M award for new diesel electric hybrid buses that improve service and reduce congestion, pollution and noise in this community," said Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Sec. of Transportation.
Buttigieg also added another $4 million to emergency communications and technology to analyze travel. So far, scientists say if we continue to practice these habits, Tahoe should be healthy for generations to come.
"Unless we make some of these subtle changes, than in 10-20 years our kids won’t have the ability to change things back," said Chandra.
