Reid previews National Clean Energy Summit

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., previewed his upcoming National Clean Energy Summit 4.0 in a Wednesday conference call, and invited some friends along to promote the event.

The call allowed a peek at Reid's priorities for federal green-energy legislation when Congress reconvenes in September.

On the agenda for the Aug. 30 summit: Talk about programs to encourage retro­fitting homes and offices for greater energy efficiency, as well as more efficient appliances, light bulbs, and cars and trucks.

Reid said the clean-energy and green technology sector employs 3 million Americans. The industry has grown at double the rate of the overall U.S. economy since 2003. In Nevada, clean energy is a hot topic, as the state's political and business leaders look to harness solar and geothermal power to diversify the economy and export green electricity throughout the region. The National Clean Energy Summit will look at how Congress can boost the industry, Reid said.

"We've had this economic downturn, and now we have reluctance from investors slowing momentum in this crucial sector, which is at this time critical to our economy," Reid said. "There are things we can do at the Washington level, and certainly, we are going to try to do those things."

John Podesta, a former chief of staff for Bill Clinton whose Washington think tank, the Center for American Progress, is cosponsoring the summit, listed federal laws that began as discussion topics in previous clean energy summits, including extensions of tax incentives for solar and wind projects. He said clean-technology funding in 2009's stimulus bill has created nearly 1 million jobs.

This year's summit will emphasize research and development into new technologies, and regional strategies for developing a Western clean-energy sector, Podesta said.

Gov. Brian Sandoval is scheduled to speak at the event, as are Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown joined the conference call to talk about California's renewables industry. State law says California utilities must get a third of their power from renewables by 2020, and the state has a program to build 20,000 megawatts of private-sector solar power by 2020, Brown said.

"I'm optimistic. All signals are go," he said. "Even though we've got some economic headwinds, this part of the economy is expanding."

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus also participated in the conference call. Mabus will talk at the summit about how the military uses renewables on the battlefield. The Department of Defense has tested biofuels in fighter jets, for example, and an initiative that tested solar power for radios and GPS devices spared more than 700 pounds of batteries and cut the need for supply convoys. That's important because one Marine is killed per every 50 convoys, Mabus said.

"The United States Navy and military are moving very aggressively toward renewable energy for one primary reason: It's a matter of national security," Mabus said.

"We simply use too much oil and gas. As you look at military adversaries, you look for vulnerabilities. You also look for your own vulnerabilities. One of our chief ones is our dependence on foreign sources of oil and gas. It's a strategic thing, because we do buy oil and gas from volatile places, and there are price and supply shocks that go with that," he also said.

Other speakers scheduled to attend the summit include Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and MGM Resorts International Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. MGM and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas are cosponsoring the event.

The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 30 at CityCenter's Aria. For more information, visit www.cleanenergysummit.org.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.