Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007 | 1:16 a.m.
In hindsight, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said, she should have spoken up about the new coal-fired power plant in Ely when Nevada Power came to her with the proposal.
Berkley is an environmentally friendly lawmaker. She has tirelessly promoted legislation pushing the country toward renewable power sources such as solar, wind and geothermal. She despises dirty coal, as do many of her political allies.
But the plant was being planned outside her district. The state power company, she believes, is working hard to increasingly rely on renewable power sources to light up her district, which includes the Strip. As a former lawyer for the gas company, she understands utilities.
She did not oppose the plan.
"I'm afraid bells and whistles did not go off in my head," she told the Sun last week.
"That was a mistake, an inadvertent mistake on my part," she continued. "Maybe I could have said, 'Ooh, you know, isn't there a better, renewable energy source that you should be harnessing other than coal? Is there a better energy source for our future?' And I regret not mentioning that."
The coal debate has divided the state along hard partisan lines like no other recent issue. Perhaps not since the state's battle over gay marriage this decade have Democratic and Republican activists so quickly and passionately chosen sides, UNR Professor Eric Herzik said. (Gay marriage lost.)
The stage was set this summer after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his opposition to three coal plants planned for the state. Coal is now a defining issue: Democrats want to protect the environment from the global warming gases coal plants will spew for decades to come; Republicans want to keep light bills low and bring jobs to a depressed part of the state.
When Reid said he would do everything in his power to stop the plants, Nevada's Republican Sen. John Ensign vowed to do everything he could to make sure that wouldn't happen.
When it was made known that Reid was trying to slip last-minute legislation into a bill that would make it more difficult for the coal plants in White Pine County to secure air permits, Nevada's House Republicans moved to block him.
As the battle lines ossified among the congressional delegation last week, Berkley issued a statement renewing her commitment to green power.
But does Berkley oppose the coal plants?
"I don't want to be put in a box," she said last week.
Utilities are big players in state politics, Herzik said, and Berkley may not be as interested as Reid seems to be in taking on a giant.
Berkley will be supporting Reid's measure if he gets it included in the big year-end spending bill, which seems less and less likely. She agreed it would be difficult to vote otherwise, because the bill will likely contain many other vital measures.
But she said she doesn't want to condemn the power company, either.
"Sen. Reid is moving this nation and this state in the right direction," she said.
"I'm not in favor of coal plants. Our future is in renewable energy."
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