Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-NV, speaks to reporters during the launch of the 100-megawatt MGM Resorts Mega Solar Array Monday, June 28, 2021. The solar array facility will produce up to 90 percent of MGM Resorts Las Vegas daytime power.
Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 | 6:30 p.m.
Nevada Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen is attending the global climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, to discuss clean energy innovation opportunities for Nevada and highlight the climate challenges facing the state.
“This is the single-most important international climate change conference,” said Rosen, who is also a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. “It’s a historic opportunity. I’m excited I get to go and represent Nevada.”
Rosen arrived Thursday to join a bipartisan Senate delegation at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which is considered the most important multilateral climate change conference since the Paris Climate Accords in 2015 and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is not only a global threat, Rosen said, but it is also a threat to Nevada, which is suffering from poor air quality, extreme drought and wildfires, affecting the state’s economy and public health.
Rosen will speak at the conference on a panel about clean energy innovation, explaining some of the work that Nevada is doing with clean energy while also learning from representatives what other countries have done in an effort to partner and collaborate.
“Think about Nevada,” Rosen said. “We have wind, water, solar and geothermal energy.”
Nevada ranks No. 2 nationally in the production of geothermal energy, she said, and 25% of the energy in Nevada comes from renewable sources. Nevada also has the second-most solar jobs per capita in the country and has tripled its renewable energy production over the last decade, according to a Friday news release from Rosen’s office.
“We want to be sure that we’re leading in innovation and collaboration with all countries around the world,” Rosen said.
At the beginning of the conference, criticism rose when Scotland’s Sunday Mail reported that more than 400 private jets flew into Glasgow for the conference, where leaders from around the world as well as notables like Amazon’s Jeffrey Bezos arrived. Rosen didn’t travel on one of those planes.
The jets will blast 13,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the Daily Record, which is more global warming gas than 1,600 Scots burn through in a year. Rosen called those criticisms distractions.
“We’re in an extreme drought. We’ve had extreme wildfires,” Rosen said. “These are distractions from the global crisis that is happening. We need to go there, bring all these minds together — scientists, engineers and innovators” to figure out how to address the crisis.
“We’ve been working hard on finding common ground,” Rosen said.
