Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid welcomes the crowd back from lunch during the afternoon portion of the Clean Energy Summit at the Mandalay Bay on Thursday, September 4, 2014.
Monday, Aug. 24, 2015 | 2 a.m.
President Barack Obama speaks during a joint news conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Monday, July 27, 2015, at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia.
President Barack Obama will be with familiar company today in Las Vegas.
Clean energy activists, renewable investors and green business executives will all watch him speak at Mandalay Bay for the National Clean Energy Summit.
Obama’s visit marks a high point for the summit — which has grown from a small meeting of the minds to a national, must-see event for anyone in the renewable industry. It is also a spotlight moment for Nevada and Harry Reid, Obama’s Senate confidant and founder of the summit eight years ago.
With the help of Reid, Nevada’s clean energy workforce and policies resemble the vision that Obama touted on campaign trails and during speeches in the past decade.
Today, Nevada leads the country with an energy portfolio that’s eliminating emissions by phasing out coal and adding more renewables. Its rooftop solar industry — despite an ongoing battle with NV Energy — is one of the fastest growing in the country. The state will soon produce Tesla batteries and may be in the running for a new electric car maker. The state has the most solar projects on public land and leads the nation in geothermal production.
When the president earlier this month announced the final stages of his plan clean power plan — a policy that will limit emissions by 32 percent — Nevada was already in position to close its coal-fired power plants and ahead of the curve of an emission reduction goal.
“We’re the first generation to feel the impact of climate change,” Obama said after announcing his Clean Power Plan on Aug. 3. “We’re the last generation that can do something about it.”
The summit will be filled with announcements — local companies such as Switch and Valley Electric Association will make news. There will also be speeches from U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz; Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta; Diarmuid O'Connell, vice president of business development at Tesla Motors; and the managing director at Panasonic Eco Solutions, Jamie Evans.
Follow coverage of the summit today at LasVegasSun.com and on Twitter.
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