Las Vegas NowLawmakers Finish Energy Summit with Projects Tour

Lawmakers Finish Energy Summit with Projects Tour

Las Vegas' green initiatives took center stage on day two of this year's energy summit. Top national leaders saw first hand the steps Nevada is taking towards clean energy.

If Nevada wants to be a main player in America's shift towards clean energy, leading by example is a must. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other national leaders got to see for themselves the strides the Silver State is taking to repower America.

Their first stop was the Rob's Ridge Solar Project, home to a solar powered emergency station used by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. If Las Vegas' power grid were to ever fail, solar panels would be Metro's saving grace, providing continual power to their radios to keep communication up.

Next on the list was MGM Mirage's CityCenter, an 18,000,000 square foot project that's on its way to becoming of the world's largest green developments.

CityCenter is just an example of the number of businesses that are going green. Not only do they have a natural gas co-generation plant on site and water conservation technologies, they've provided thousands of jobs -- thousands for those to build it and thousands of jobs for people to run it.

"I'm really proud that those 9,000 people are working today because of us that were able to get going. I'm proud of the fact that 10,000 people will be working by the end of this year at CityCenter because of us," said Jim Murren with MGM Mirage.

Finally, it was UNLV's chance to show off, showcasing its work in energy efficiency and even introducing a new solar and renewable minor program that will train students like Caryn Wright on new technologies. "Everyone asks me, ‘What are you going to do with that degree?' and I'm like, ‘Really? What am I not going to do with this degree?' It offers so many opportunities. It really is the way to go, especially in Nevada," she said.

The energy tour was a chance for national leaders to see what's possible and show Washington DC that Nevada is ready to lead the way. "You are just beginning to see the best. The best is yet to come," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The CityCenter project is set to achieve a combination of gold and silver LEED ratings by the U.S. Green Building Council.