Thu, Mar 27, 2008 (2:08 a.m.)

For too long solar energy has had the whiff of elitism about it, as if it were the fanciful product of people whose musings aren’t quite grounded in reality.

Despite their expense and polluting qualities, coal, oil and natural gas are still more trusted than solar power as honest-to-goodness energy sources.

Solar’s photovoltaic cells just don’t inspire the same confidence for volume and reliability as drills and smokestacks.

The Sierra Club is hoping to reverse that perception in America, however, with Power2Change an informational and political campaign that began this week in nine states, including Nevada.

We believe the campaign has a good chance for success, as it will be highlighting an aspect of solar energy its potential as a moneymaker that hasn’t yet gotten across to enough investors, industries and entrepreneurs.

One of the highlights of the Nevada campaign, as reported Wednesday by the Las Vegas Sun’s Phoebe Sweet, will be the Las Vegas story of Chris Brooks and Bombard Electric Co.

Brooks began a solar business in 2001 and joined Bombard in 2004. Today he directs the company’s renewable energy division, whose 30 full-time employees work steadily installing solar panels at public facilities and private homes.

As a nation we have to begin thinking of alternative energies as a new industry, one with the same potential for growth and profits as oil had in the 1870s. If we miss the opportunity to develop this industry, there is a possibility Middle Eastern companies will take their oil profits and do it for us, right here in the Southwest.

The Sierra Club’s campaign also includes a drive to collect petitions calling on presidential and congressional candidates to support clean energy. This is important, because long-term political will is essential.

Tax credits approved in 2005 gave a boost to small emerging solar and wind companies, but they expire at the end of this year. The House has passed a multiyear extension, and we hope the Senate and future Congresses and presidents recognize the economic opportunity involved and follow suit.