(Priorities Nevada) – LAS VEGAS – As government-funded clean energy projects around the country continue to prove wasteful and ineffective, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama are preparing once again to deny the reality of their ill-conceived energy agenda at the eighth annual Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas Monday, August 24, 2015.
“The Obama-Reid energy policy has been an abject failure for Nevadans,” said Ciara Matthews, executive director of Priorities Nevada, a limited-government, issue advocacy organization. “Beginning with the Stimulus Package, Reid and his liberal allies in the Senate have a long track record of waste, fraud and abuse when it comes to America’s energy policy.”
The Obama-Reid record on clean energy includes:
- A lack of any real or meaningful job creation -The $1.3 billion in federal funding for Nevada clean energy projects since 2009 has resulted in a measly 288 permanent, full time jobs, according to a Nevada Journal report.
- Increase costs to Nevada energy consumers – Nevada’s electricity rates are 26 percent higher than those of other Intermountain West states and 7 percent higher than the national average, according to the same study.
- Blatant cronyism, which has only helped to boost the interests of Reid campaign contributors– Reid ushered in the Searchlight Wind Project, which will be developed by Reid donor Duke Energy Corporation.
“For too long, Nevadans have been reeling from an energy policy that ignores the needs of our state and serves only to boost Harry Reid and the special interests with whom he is aligned,” Matthews concluded.
Priorities Nevada is 501(c)(4) nonprofit coalition of concerned citizens, community leaders and other stakeholders interested in promoting a strong economy and an environment of opportunity for Nevada families and businesses. For more information, please visit www.PrioritiesNevada.org.
