I’m writing this column from the heart of California’s Sierra Nevada range near Yosemite National Park. It’s beautiful here and not as hot as Las Vegas in early September, but there is ample evidence of rising temperatures as the effects of climate change become increasingly obvious.
Energy
Environmental studies major Caryn Wright was looking for a minor that would perfectly complement her course of study. So it was perfect timing for her when the University of Nevada, Las Vegas announced it was adding a minor in solar and renewable energy this fall, thanks to a $500,000 gift from NV Energy that will be used for scholarships, research, equipment and internship. … “It’ll really complement my major,” said Wright, the first student of about 20 so far who have signed up for the minor. “They’ll go hand in hand.” … Tony F. Sanchez, NV Energy’s senior vice president of public policy and external relations, said the energy utility expects it will need workers skilled in renewable energy in the future. So providing shareholder money to help train them was no-brainer for the company.
A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hosted a daylong green-power discussion featuring former President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, Reid took several dignitaries on a road trip Tuesday to see some of Southern Nevada’s newest ecofriendly developments.
About 100 people turned out Monday morning to protest the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., wants to change the old electoral axiom: “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.”
Quit piddling around! That was the earnest exhortation from former President Bill Clinton, who spoke to a sold-out crowd of 900 attendees at Monday’s National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 at UNLV.
In a wide-ranging speech, Clinton referred repeatedly to the 7 million jobs the nation has lost since the recession’s 2007 start. He talked of restoring some of those jobs by unlocking private capital locked down in a credit freeze, and he urged the nation to “take what Nevada is doing and put it on steroids” to develop a green economy.
John Podesta, chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said ideas under discussion at Monday’s National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 will help shape pending legislation in Congress, including a carbon cap-and-trade bill the Senate will consider in the fall.
The technology is here, and incentives are in place, but the task of retrofitting homes in the Las Vegas Valley with solar panels is mired in the sagging economy.
The Silver State will soon run out of major construction projects: The Strip’s massive CityCenter will be complete by the end of the year, and the Hoover Dam bypass bridge will conclude soon as well.
The goal Friday was to install a machine that harnesses the wind, but there were worries that it might be too windy.
