>A person could wonder what newly minted senatorial candidate Sharron Angle will have to say regarding energy policy given this statement she issued as of June 6, 2010: “As a long-term policy, America must expand its own domestic energy supplies. Sharron Angle would legislate to repeal regulations that prohibit off shore drilling, drilling in ANWR and development of American owned petroleum resources. In the Nevada State Legislature, Sharron Angle led efforts to reduce Nevada’s high gas tax, which was the second highest in the nation.” [Angle cached]
It’s easy to agree with her, if one doesn’t get past the first sentence. Yes, the United States must expand its own domestic energy supplies. However, her advocacy doesn’t appear to extend further than the technology of the combustion engine, and the energy of the late 19th to 20th century. Oil. The stuff which is currently streaming out of a broken well in the Gulf of Mexico, in large, albeit disputed amounts. Since we’re hogtied to combustion engines it’s reasonable to assume that we will be in need of petroleum products while we make the transition to alternative fuel sources.
Remember, as “Senator” Angle she would be tasked with representing the interests of Nevada, in which most of the oil is currently in bottles, cans, and barrels. If today is any representative indication, we have plenty of wind. We have lots of sun. However, the prospective Senator has nothing to say beyond “coal, nuclear, and petroleum.” We already have coal powered plants, and nuclear energy installations, and Angle’s message in terms of developing domestic energy supplies is: Let’s Just Keep Doing What We’ve Always Been Doing. Therefore, instead of being an energy producing state, Nevada could continue as a docile consumer of other state’s energy/revenue sources.
On the other hand, when the Bush Administration ordered the BLM to place a moratorium on solar power plant applications in 2008, Senator Reid observed: “This notice of intent is the wrong signal to send to solar power developers, and to Nevadans and Westerners who need and want clean, affordable sun-powered electricity soon. While the BLM’s proposed delay won’t affect developers with existing applications, it could discourage or slow new development to a crawl.
“This administration should be reprogramming funds urgently so BLM can complete its regulations and work through its application backlog. Right now, the administration’s misplaced higher priority seems to be aimed at fossil fuels. That’s not good for Nevada or for the nation.
“I am looking into this situation to determine what can be done to accelerate solar power development without delay. The federal government should be doing all it can to help develop solar power and the supporting transmission infrastructure in Nevada and the Southwest.” [Reid] (emphasis added)
By May 2010, after a change in administration, and consequent change in energy policy perspective, Senator Reid did the honors “flipping the switch” at the Amonix plant in southern Nevada: “I applaud Amonix for taking advantage of a tax credit in the Recovery Act to build a new manufacturing plant in Southern Nevada and to put nearly 300 Nevadans to work,” Senator Reid said. “This type of project is just what we need in Nevada. Not only will the new solar facility create permanent green jobs, but it further cements Nevada’s role as the leader in clean energy production. Amonix’s solar technology is now being put to work treating water at SNWA’s River Mountains facility, and soon the company will create even more jobs here when it starts manufacturing this technology right here in Southern Nevada.” [BusWire]
OK, it’s not the magic bullet to end our dependence on fossil fuels, but it’s a start. Better still, it’s a start that emphasizes what Nevada HAS in terms of natural resources (lots of sun and wind) rather than further chaining the Silver State to the technology of the past.
In fact, the promotion of solar and wind energy in Nevada places Senator Reid in a better light than challenger Angle’s advocacy of the Dickensian “I wear the chains I forged in life” policy of perpetual obeisance to the needs of the Oil Giants.
Desert Beacon 