Editing Clark County, Nevada (section)

===Environmental factors===
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2009}}
Clark County has [[biodiversity|diverse]] [[desert]] [[flora]] and [[fauna]], including higher-elevation mountain areas, the desert floor, and the [[Colorado River]]/[[Lake Mead]] ecosystems. Variations in diurnal temperature as well as seasonal swings in temperature create demanding adaptation elements on the [[species]] of this county. [[Population growth|Population expansion]], especially since 1970, has placed additional pressure on species in the area.

Correspondingly, [[air quality]] levels prior to the 1960s were in a favorable range, but the proliferation of automobiles with the human population expansion created circumstances where some federal air quality standards were violated starting in the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

To plan for the wave of development forecast by 1980, Clark County embarked on a regional environmental impact assessment funded by a federal Section 208 program, with Sedway-Cooke conducting the planning work and Earth Metrics performing environmental analysis. This endeavor projected population growth, land use changes and environmental impacts.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

To prevent the loss of federal funds due to unacceptable dust levels in the Las Vegas valley, in 2003 the Nevada Air Quality Management division (under direction of Clark County officials) created the [[Dusty the Dusthole|"Don't Be a Dusthole"]] campaign. The campaign successfully raised awareness of dust pollution in the Las Vegas Valley, quantifiably reducing pollutants and preserving ongoing federal funding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Jan-04-Thu-2007/news/11774909.html|title=News – Dusty the Dusthole successful|publisher=Reviewjournal.com|access-date=May 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324101925/http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Jan-04-Thu-2007/news/11774909.html|archive-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref>

The [[Apex Landfill]], at {{convert|2200|acre|abbr=on}}, is the nation's largest landfill.<ref>{{cite news|first=Joe|last=Schoenmann|author-link=Joe Schoenmann|title=Official calls for sort reform|url=http://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/dec/17/official-calls-sort-reform/|work=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|date=December 17, 2008|access-date=December 20, 2008}}</ref> [[Republic Services]] owns and operates the landfill.