LETTER: Las Vegas is now Las Tucson

Now the powers that be have decided to tear out hundreds of thousands of acres of grass in an effort to save even more water, further increasing the heat island effect — and yet they still continue to build. Now every year they will be saying, “The hottest year on record! The hottest year on record!” Well, duh. You tore up all the grass and trees in favor of rocks and dirt and cactus. Grass is usually 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding terrain.

I understand that building is an economic driver and without growth there’s no economy. But Nevada uses 2 percent of the river’s water, and we are doing more to save water than anyone else.

Other places need to do more. One-thousand square feet of grass makes enough oxygen for a family of four for a year and trees. Gee, where did all the birds go? There used to be a lot more birds here. Now all we have is pigeons. So sad.

I truly hope some great innovator can figure out a way to bring this place back to life and make it, once again, the oasis in the desert that it was when I first moved here many years ago.