RENO, Nev. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the threat of global warming should preclude the construction of new coal-fired power plants anywhere in the world.
The Nevada Democrat last month came out against three proposed major coal-fired plants in his home state, but recently extended that opposition to any such new plants worldwide.
He said each coal-fired plant burns 7 million tons of coal every year, spewing out pollutants that contribute to global warming.
"There's not a coal-fired plant in America that's clean. They're all dirty," Reid told reporters after speaking at a conference on renewable energy. "Unless we do something quickly about global warming, we're in trouble."
Reid said the United States should rely on renewable forms of energy in an effort to curb emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Nevada and other Western states have an abundance of such renewables as wind, solar and geothermal power.
"It can be done. We can change this voracious appetite we have for fossil fuels," Reid told the conference. "Sadly, the sun, the wind and the geothermal energy we see is being wasted every day."
In July, Reid pledged to do "everything I can" to stop construction of the proposed coal-fired power plants in White Pine and Lincoln counties in eastern Nevada.
Michael Yackira, president and chief executive officer of Sierra Pacific Resources, said his company "respectfully disagrees" with Reid's position. His company is seeking approval to build one of the plants.
"We believe what we'll be building is the cleanest, coal-fired plant in the world" because of new technology, Yackira said.
"We must also have fossil fuel plants for reliability because wind and solar power is variable. We need all sorts of energy supplies to meet the needs of our customers," he added.
About 600 government officials, industry representatives and activists attended the inaugural Nevada Clean Energy Summit.
The conference featured presentations by public and private sector officials on efforts under way to make Nevada a national leader in tapping renewables.
Major development of solar and wind energy projects hasn't occurred yet in Nevada, but geothermal power plants already are producing power.
Conference attendee Richard Nelson, a consultant representing rural Nye County, said the biggest obstacles are a lack of transmission capability, the region's mountainous terrain, major up-front expenses and an extensive environmental review process.
"We have tremendous capability, but the challenge is to set us up to access the energy sources," Nelson said. "Over time these hurdles can be overcome."
Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, a member of the state's Renewable Energy Task Force, pledged efforts to come up with financial incentives to mitigate the costs of building transmission lines and infrastructure.
"We are at the right place at the right moment with the right resources," he said. "I hope this will be one of the centerpieces we can share with the world."
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said while Nevada ranks near the bottom nationally in human services, it has been "very progressive" in promoting clean energy sources.
In 1997, Nevada became one of the first states to enact legislation to encourage green energy. Nevada's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard requires the state's power companies to get 20 percent of their energy from renewables by 2015.
"We need to work with Senator Reid in trying to remove obstacles," Leslie said, adding conservation also must be stressed.
Industry representatives, including those from Barrick Gold Corp. and MGM MIRAGE, touted their efforts to promote the development of clean energy.
"We believe the best energy is kilowatts never used and that's what we focus on," said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president at MGM MIRAGE. "We focus on buildings that are energy-efficient."