Letter to the editor:

Suddenly, progress on renewable energy

Scot Rutledge, Las Vegas

Monday, March 9, 2009 | 2:03 a.m.

In just the past few weeks, Nevada has made staggering progress toward realizing a vision for a clean energy economy. We took giant steps forward toward creating high-quality, green jobs and revitalizing our economy by tapping into our abundant solar, wind and geothermal power.

First, we heard that NV Energy canceled plans for a dirty coal plant in White Pine County, and that it announced plans for at least one solar-powered plant here in Southern Nevada. Now, we hear that LS Power has indefinitely postponed another White Pine County dirty coal plant, saying this sort of power plant doesn’t make sense in today’s economic and political climate. In just a few short weeks, our state looked away from a past of dirty coal plants — one of the largest contributors to global warming — and toward a future of clean, renewable energy.

Also, Sen. Harry Reid announced plans for a bill to speed up the process of transmitting renewable energy from our remote rural areas — where it will be generated — to the cities that need it most. This is the missing link in making Nevada one of the world’s renewable energy leaders, and Sen. Reid should be commended for the vision he has established here in Nevada, and nationally, of a clean energy economy.

At a time when unemployment is skyrocketing and our financial situation seems so dire in Nevada, we have an opportunity looking at us straight in the face: a clean energy economy that creates thousands of green jobs that can’t be exported overseas, reduces our greenhouse emissions and cuts our dependence on foreign oil. Thanks to Sen. Reid, NV Energy, LS Power and many other forward-thinking community leaders and businesses who are looking to a bright, green future.

The writer is executive director of the Nevada Conservation League and Nevada Conservation League Education Fund.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By gunowners4obama

3/9/09 at 6:07 a.m.

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The Sun also carried a story about how energy companies aren't coming here because of poor education. Anybody have that link?
By teacher

3/9/09 at 6:09 a.m.

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About our poor education, be sure to blame teachers, because it has nothing to do with parents, students, CCSD administration, how the school system is set up, or how teachers are paid and treated under this monopoly.
By mschaffer

3/9/09 at 6:29 a.m.

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I sympathize with teachers and have voted for candidates who would have done much more for education than Gibbons. The blame for a system that doesn't work can be largely laid at the feet of conservatives who fantasize that vouchers and charter schools will magically solve education woes through the "miracle" of free markets. Never answered is what happens when incompetent free market schools fail? To understand why this scam keeps getting pushed on the public please find and read "The Conservatives Have No Clothes: Why Right-Wing ideas Keep Failing".
By neiman1

3/9/09 at 6:47 a.m.

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Thank you sen harry Reid. You have prevented all oil exploration and nuclear plants until energy is expensive enough for "green" energy to compete. If you cause oil and electricity to double even more green energy will be competitive, just double the cost.. Thanks harry, you have done more to destroy Las Vegas than anyone except Obmama.
By pmmart

3/9/09 at 7:06 a.m.

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I suggest that anyone interested in coal fired electrical plants Google Chinese coal fired electrical plants where some clain that China has averaged a coal fired plant comming on line EVERY WEEK ..

Has Wally World figured out a way to import cheap Chinese electicity?
By Future2012

3/9/09 at 7:40 a.m.

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We have given renewable power every opportunity to replace coal and natural gas and they have failed repeatedly.

- They asked for money to be competitive and Harry Reid gave it to them.

- They asked for their competition to be shut down and Harry Reid did this. Harry says he will tax them out of business with carbon cap and trade on natural gas and coal fired units so they stopped on a dim

- They wanted fear mongering with global warming and Harry Reid lead the fear. Temperatures have not risen in the last decade but we are afraid of rising seas.

- They want the Feds to overrule States Right's on location of Transmission lines in pristine environmentally sensitive remote locations.

So Sen. Harry Reid announced plans for a bill to speed up the process of transmitting renewable energy from our remote rural areas by shutting out the State permitting process.

In spite of all of this intrusion by Harry Reid there is now still no inertia for renewable energy.

Meanwhile Harry has shut down coal, natural gas, and nuclear power. No major base loaded units are being built in the U.S.

None of the old inefficient units can be taken out of service.

Reid has the U.S. electric power supply is stuck in the past. Nothing is moving forward.

What is the next move that Harry will have to make to save them?

Just one more industry to nationalize with the cap and trade money the Feds get. As we can see from TVA the Feds have not done well trying to run a power utility.
By Sunlizard

3/10/09 at 9:14 a.m.

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The Nevada Conservation League?? Sorry Scot, but you can't call yourself an environmentalist when you support the scraping up of thousands of acres of public lands to develop renewable energy. Scot seems to be supporting the speeding up the extinction of desert tortoise, destroying habitat for bighorn sheep. construction of wind farms that will kill birds and bats and stringing transmission lines through wetlands and National Wildlife refuges. Scot does not even want to talk about the endless roof tops, vacent lots and parking lots in his own city of Las Vegas that could be a revolution in photovoltaic technology. What a tragic shame that we have these guys who hide behind the word, "enviornmentalist" when they are just working for a group that has been bought by T-Boone Pickens. Scot Rutledge is a disgrace to the word, environmentalist.
By KeepNVStrong

3/11/09 at 10:11 p.m.

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Sunlizard, I grew up on Edward Abbey and love the desert as much as anyone. But YOU haplessly use fossil fuels and electricity made from them, and you don't bother to think where they come from. And you throw stones at leaders who are trying to solve the basic problem.

We could power this whole COUNTRY using less than 10% of the BLM land in the great state of Nevada, day and night, using solar power. That would be less land than we have currently taken for coal mining -- and we could stop the mining forever. (Incidentally, if we took on a project like that it would bring about $3 trillion into Nevada, creating a construction and revenue boom vastly larger than the state has ever seen. Nobody in the state would ever have to pay state taxes again...) We could power Nevada with .05% or something like that.

Power projects like Nevada Solar One are the foundation of our future. They can compete on price with new fossil power plants and generate power day and night -- Arizona Public Service decided to build Solana, a project that will run day and night and fully replace a 280MW gas-fired power plant -- because they decided the electricity would be cheaper than gas-powered electricity.

The faster we build large renewable generation in Nevada, the faster we get off the fossil roller coaster and make the state a better climate for business investment.

And we can do it responsibly, without harming any areas of critical environmental concern, because the solar resource is so vast.

Best of all, building Big Solar creates vastly more jobs and in-state revenues. One of the world's biggest builders of power plants did a study in 2006 of power plants just like NVS1 and found that solar delivers FOUR TIMES THE CONSTRUCTION JOBS, TWICE the permanent jobs, and FOUR TIMES THE IN-STATE REVENUES of fossil power plants. (See http://www.nrel.gov/csp/pdfs/39291.pdf)

Rooftop solar is about a few wealthy folks getting breaks on their electric bill, getting kickbacks from all of us to subsidize them. It ain't ever going to replace a single conventional power plant. Building big power plants in the desert is about serving us all. In 20 years their price of electricity will drop to about 1 or 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, after the mortgage is paid, and they'll keep delivering that power for another 20 years. That's the kind of legacy I'd like to leave my kids.

Scot Rutledge is a hero in my book, trying to bring together the needs of our economy and preserving our lands.