Las Vegas Now | Clean Energy Experts Give Dire Predictions

Clean Energy Experts Give Dire Predictions

One message rang clear at the Clean Energy Summit Tuesday -- renewable energy equals jobs. The two-day event at UNLV is the first of its kind to bring together political leaders, business leaders and renewable energy experts.

When you say renewable energy, think solar, wind or geothermal power -- and Nevada has all three. The summit is meant to show how it will make a big difference.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid put together the summit in combination with UNLV. "There's no better place for this summit than in Nevada -- the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy," he said.

SLIDESHOW: Check out photos from inside the energy summit 

There were predictions from billionaire T. Boone Pickens, "We are getting very close to a disaster." He says importing 70-percent of our oil from overseas leaves us reliant on other countries and vulnerable.

While money and the environment were an undertone, jobs were front and center.

UNLV professor Keith Schwer says building solar and wind industries in Southern Nevada will mean work and stability for other companies.

"When we buy domestic, we are creating jobs. Those jobs are local. You are boosting your local economy," said Schwer. He adds cheaper energy helps businesses reduce costs, making them more likely to keep employees.

MGM-Mirage president and COO, Jim Murren, agrees saying CityCenter would not have been developed without energy savings and government tax incentives for going green. "That will be a LEED rating of silver. We could not have done it otherwise. In doing so, we would not be employing 12,000 more people at the end of next year."

Without that incentive, CityCenter would have been a standard mega-resort employing only 5,000 people. Murren says valley residents should also be looking at cutting back energy use. "It just drives me absolutely insane when the dialogue about energy and oil prices and gas prices does not focus around conservation. Who should we blame for where we are right now?"

Murren says we're to blame -- the consumer. And like the others at the summit, he hopes this push does not end with just talk. Specific recommendations will come from the summit.

Senator Harry Reid says first and most important is for lawmakers to create tax incentives to make renewable energy a good investment. There is bi-partisan support for a measure -- but not enough to pass it.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence.