Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Sun editorial:

Producing ‘green jobs’

Nevada needs strategy to attract renewable energy companies to compete with other states

Nevada boasts a mother lode of wind, solar and geothermal resources, which makes the state an ideal place not only to produce alternative power for residents and businesses, but also to test and manufacture renewable energy equipment that can be exported.

The competition for these manufacturing companies and the “green jobs” they produce is fierce among the states. But Nevada is falling behind.

In a story in Sunday’s Las Vegas Sun, reporter David McGrath Schwartz wrote about Reno-based Mariah Power’s decision to build a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Michigan that is expected to generate 140 jobs. Company Chief Executive Mike Hess said he decided to locate in that state because of its infrastructure and a labor force already trained to work with steel.

He also told Schwartz he hadn’t seen great leadership in Nevada on the subject of renewable energy.

That response from a knowledgeable businessman should serve as a wake-up call to the Nevada Legislature that it must develop a comprehensive strategy to produce green jobs. No such plan will work without greater investment in higher education, which would contribute mightily to a much-needed high-tech manufacturing base. As Hess said: “When you cut the UNR budget, when you cut the UNLV budget, that’s my talent. That hurts me.”

There’s more. The Legislature should extend and, if necessary, increase tax rebates and other incentives set to expire in June for renewable energy projects.

The state should also work with the Bureau of Land Management to approve solar projects on federal property, should plan a network of transmission lines to transfer alternative power from rural plants to urban areas, and should encourage financial institutions to lend money to companies seeking to produce green jobs.

If the Legislature does not begin planning now, Nevada will fall further behind other states in the high-stakes race to generate those jobs. The most foolish thing Nevada can do is to let its renewable energy resources go to waste.

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