Cashing In On Green Energy
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
In their game plan entitled “Charting a New Future for Nevada”, the Nevada Legislative Democrats have included a “Green Jobs Initiative.”
The announcement shared the often-repeated observation “the state of Nevada, with it’s abundance of solar, wind and geothermal resources, has the unique ability to emerge as the nation’s leader in developing renewable energy.” It also cited the Center for American Progress and that entity’s estimate that Nevada could create 15,000 “green collar” jobs.
Creating that many jobs on it’s own merit is a worthy objective to shoot for, given the report that Larry Mosley, head of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation delivered to the Legislature’s money subcommittee the day before the Democratic leaders unveiled their plan. Mosley indicated that the state’s most recent 9.1 percent unemployment calculation means about 128,100 Nevada citizens are out of work. If fitting them with “green collars” will send them home with paychecks – that would be a very good thing
We’re told that the Green Jobs Initiative portion of “Charting a New Future for Nevada” is based on developing a “public-private partnership” which will create jobs through improved energy efficiency.
Using federal economic stimulus funds (which at this writing has a lot of folks waiting at their mailboxes for the U.S. Senate to approve their version), the idea is to set up three energy efficiency job-training centers in Nevada. Training, for unemployed citizens interested in taking up this career path, will focus on skill-building to conduct energy audits, weatherizing homes and retrofitting schools and other public buildings with energy-efficient measures.
More “Centers” are also included in the plan, providing additional job-training in the skills needed as Nevada moves forward with it’s plans to become the center for renewable energy development in the West.
Given the bi-partisan emphasis of Nevada’s Green future, with Senator Harry Reid actively promoting our future in renewable energy and sending cash back to Nevada for this purpose; with Governor Gibbons making this a key-stone in his plans for the state…and now the Democratic leaders of the Nevada Legislature putting it into their “New Future for Nevada” – we’re pretty well on our way.
All it’s going to take now:
(My purpose is not to pour ‘cold water’ on this enthusiasm – I hope that we can build a Nevada-based green energy industry…and add bio-energy into the mix to provide for opportunities for Nevada farmers and ranchers. But, to accomplish this agenda there needs to be some real-world elements included as part of the planning.
In order to become the “center for renewable energy development in the West”, Nevada needs to address several additional matters, along with the job-training covered by the “Centers for Renewable and Sustainable Energy” there again are a few of open bases that need to be covered.
The energy created by “solar, wind and geothermal resources” is pretty much in the form of electricity. Getting that type of energy from where it is harnessed and where it gets paid for requires electrical transmission lines.
Over the past several years, putting in place these necessary “evils” of the power grid, hasn’t been all that favorably viewed or encouraged. To say nothing of the complaints and “Not In Our Backyard” philosophies of installing solar or wind systems (not too many complaints for geothermal that we’ve heard of).
It’s also hard to be promoting establishment of alternative energy sources in one agency while others in another agency is doing all that they can to prevent alternative energy sites from being put in.
The biologists at the Nevada Department of Wildlife are not very tingly about these opportunities for power generation. They tend to see the hardships for wildlife that such sites will cause (especially the potentially endangered Sage Grouse). When federal agencies consider where alternative sites will be located, as well as the power lines that will link these sites with customers – NDOW comments into the public decision process are aimed at limiting these sites as much as possible.
In closing, I do think that Nevada needs to aggressively move forward in developing to its full potential for green energy. The trick is going to be getting all the players on the same page and having a game plan that takes into account the realities of something more than political correctness.
In their game plan entitled “Charting a New Future for Nevada”, the Nevada Legislative Democrats have included a “Green Jobs Initiative.”
The announcement shared the often-repeated observation “the state of Nevada, with it’s abundance of solar, wind and geothermal resources, has the unique ability to emerge as the nation’s leader in developing renewable energy.” It also cited the Center for American Progress and that entity’s estimate that Nevada could create 15,000 “green collar” jobs.
Creating that many jobs on it’s own merit is a worthy objective to shoot for, given the report that Larry Mosley, head of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation delivered to the Legislature’s money subcommittee the day before the Democratic leaders unveiled their plan. Mosley indicated that the state’s most recent 9.1 percent unemployment calculation means about 128,100 Nevada citizens are out of work. If fitting them with “green collars” will send them home with paychecks – that would be a very good thing
We’re told that the Green Jobs Initiative portion of “Charting a New Future for Nevada” is based on developing a “public-private partnership” which will create jobs through improved energy efficiency.
Using federal economic stimulus funds (which at this writing has a lot of folks waiting at their mailboxes for the U.S. Senate to approve their version), the idea is to set up three energy efficiency job-training centers in Nevada. Training, for unemployed citizens interested in taking up this career path, will focus on skill-building to conduct energy audits, weatherizing homes and retrofitting schools and other public buildings with energy-efficient measures.
More “Centers” are also included in the plan, providing additional job-training in the skills needed as Nevada moves forward with it’s plans to become the center for renewable energy development in the West.
Given the bi-partisan emphasis of Nevada’s Green future, with Senator Harry Reid actively promoting our future in renewable energy and sending cash back to Nevada for this purpose; with Governor Gibbons making this a key-stone in his plans for the state…and now the Democratic leaders of the Nevada Legislature putting it into their “New Future for Nevada” – we’re pretty well on our way.
All it’s going to take now:
(My purpose is not to pour ‘cold water’ on this enthusiasm – I hope that we can build a Nevada-based green energy industry…and add bio-energy into the mix to provide for opportunities for Nevada farmers and ranchers. But, to accomplish this agenda there needs to be some real-world elements included as part of the planning.
- Customers who want (and are able) to pay for energy audits or having their homes weatherized. In some cases, it they had the money to do this – they might have already put the projects in place.
- Business enterprises who will hire the newly trained weatherizers and retrofitters and who will put them to work in serving the customers identified above.
In order to become the “center for renewable energy development in the West”, Nevada needs to address several additional matters, along with the job-training covered by the “Centers for Renewable and Sustainable Energy” there again are a few of open bases that need to be covered.
The energy created by “solar, wind and geothermal resources” is pretty much in the form of electricity. Getting that type of energy from where it is harnessed and where it gets paid for requires electrical transmission lines.
Over the past several years, putting in place these necessary “evils” of the power grid, hasn’t been all that favorably viewed or encouraged. To say nothing of the complaints and “Not In Our Backyard” philosophies of installing solar or wind systems (not too many complaints for geothermal that we’ve heard of).
It’s also hard to be promoting establishment of alternative energy sources in one agency while others in another agency is doing all that they can to prevent alternative energy sites from being put in.
The biologists at the Nevada Department of Wildlife are not very tingly about these opportunities for power generation. They tend to see the hardships for wildlife that such sites will cause (especially the potentially endangered Sage Grouse). When federal agencies consider where alternative sites will be located, as well as the power lines that will link these sites with customers – NDOW comments into the public decision process are aimed at limiting these sites as much as possible.
In closing, I do think that Nevada needs to aggressively move forward in developing to its full potential for green energy. The trick is going to be getting all the players on the same page and having a game plan that takes into account the realities of something more than political correctness.
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