Real leadership?

Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced a blue-ribbon panel on renewable energy, created to push the issue in the state. The panel, which includes government, industry and labor leaders, is expected to build on the renewable energy summit Reid hosted in August at UNLV that attracted national leaders in the field.

Also on Tuesday, Gov. Jim Gibbons trumpeted the work of a committee he formed that revealed its proposals on where energy transmission lines could be built in Nevada. The governor’s office sent out a news release ahead of the committee’s meeting with the headline “Gov. Jim Gibbons leads plans for new power paths.” The news release claims the transmission lines would pave the way toward renewable energy development by running near areas where alternative energy plants could be built.

Reid said he was unaware the governor’s committee was meeting the same day as the blue-ribbon panel, which is understandable because Gibbons has been missing in action on renewable energy issues.

“I really don’t know what the governor has done about renewable energy,” Reid said.

That’s not a surprise. Gibbons has hardly been an advocate of clean energy. Instead, he has championed the building of polluting coal-fired power plants in Nevada.

The interest in renewable energy now being displayed by the governor, who plans to run for reelection in 2010, comes as he is trying to reinvent himself. Given that Gibbons’ dismal performance has not endeared him to the public, don’t be surprised to find him trying to latch onto popular issues.

Nevada doesn’t need this kind of “leadership.” Thankfully, Reid, a longtime proponent of renewable energy, has made the issue a priority for Nevada and the nation. In addition, Democrats in the Legislature have a slate of bills that would truly pave the way toward energy independence by authorizing new transmission lines and providing more incentives and opportunities for renewable energy.

That’s the kind of leadership Nevada needs.