Sometimes, by some happy coincidence, doing the right thing is not just a good idea. It can be profitable too.
That’s the fortunate situation that Nevada finds itself in. Renewable energy isn’t just a good idea, although it is, in fact, a very, very good idea if we want to clean up the air and literally save thousands of lives, especially children’s lives, every year in this country. It turns out that Nevada has very little oil, coal or other polluting energy sources. So when our country invests in clean, renewable energy, that means we are investing in Nevada and Nevada jobs.
“There are more renewable energy projects under construction today than at any other time in Nevada’s history,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said during the release of his report “Playing to Win in Clean Energy.”
The report describes how public policies have promoted and can further develop the clean energy industry in Nevada. Senator Reid wrote more about renewable energy in this Las Vegas Sun column.
One of the companies investing in the Silver State is First Solar, a 22-year-old company with more than 100 megawatts of operational capacity in Nevada and more planned. The company’s solar energy projects are helping to diversify the state’s economy and put Nevadans back to work.
“The success of these and other renewable energy projects in Nevada is a direct result of federal and state policies that make Nevada an attractive place to do business,” said James Woodruff, First Solar’s vice-president of state and local government affairs. “Senator Reid’s commitment to renewable energy provides a striking example of how federal energy policy can yield real jobs and meaningful economic growth.”
As Lydia Ball, executive director of the Clean Energy Project noted, Nevada’s future lies with clean energy, not the 19th Century energy technologies that pollute our communities and threaten our health.
“An aggressive clean energy path for Nevada will make us the heartbeat of clean energy innovation in the region, reduce pollution, and prepare us to compete in the 21st Century,” Ball said.