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Wrap Up from Las Vegas: The National Clean Enegry Summit 2.0

-- Benton -- 08/11/2009

“When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don’t need a better mission statement than that.”

That was Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA) summarizing the opening half of National Clean Energy Summit 2.0. She was of course talking about T. Boone Pickens, the former oil giant and current proprietor of natural gas.

The summit kicked off with a discussion on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

As the conversation made its way around the table there was input from energy executives, labor unions and elected officials. Hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and moderated by former Colorado Senator Tim Wirth, the panel wasted no time making the goal clear.

“This is madness," former Vice President Al Gore said. Gore, who has been the longtime leader in the global warming conversation, was defiant at times. "We owe it to ourselves. Who are we to make the decision to just be more wasteful… in the teeth of every scientific organization in the world.

“When our kids ask us years from now: didn’t you notice that the entire polar ice cap was melting in the summer of 2009? Didn’t you notice these storms, the 500 year floods? What were you all doing? Watching American idol? Sooner or later we’re going to have to wake up and take this for what it is. This is our generation’s mandate and responsibility.”

Following Gore the conversation got much more technical. Pickens spoke about natural gas after Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association gave a rousing speech about the current success of the wind industry.

"Jobs will be there depending on how strong the standard is," she said.

Later during the town hall portion it was Pickens saying that the jobs will follow the investment. It was Pickens attitude the pushed Cantwell to say, "When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don't need a better mission statement than that."

Pickens has said many times that he is ready to turn this corner, hence his accepting the invitation to Las Vegas in a state already a leader in clean and renewable energy.

If fact, it was Steven Horsford, the Nevada Senate Majority Leader, who said, "Nevada is open and ready for business." Cantwell followed when wrapping up the opening session: "The axiom for energy ought to be 'as Nevada goes, so goes the nation.'"

The theme stayed in play when at the beginning of the second session when former President Bill Clinton summarized: "let's take what Nevada is doing and put it on steroids."

The conclusion? "We need a second industrial revolution," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "We can really take a leadership role in this. You have to send a long-term signal to the people in the United States and to industry."

The Center for American Progress Action Fund and its CEO, former Clinton Chief of Staff John D. Podesta, put on the summit at UNLV. The collection of leaders expressed that is was time for policy to catch up with ability.

"We need to not only change the lights and the windows," Gore said. "We need to change the laws and the policies."