Senator Harry Reid talks about the enormous opportunity, Bill Clinton offers a global challenge to see who can be the first state or nation to be 100% energy self-sufficient, and Citibank's Robert Rubin is caught in a contradiction by the Rainforest Action Network.

Building a Richer, Stronger, Safer Economy
Nevada Senator Harry Reid organized the National Clean Energy Summit along with the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "We're facing an oil crisis, a carbon crisis, and a conservation crisis," said Reid, a situation which, "harms our economy, threatens our national security, and pollutes our environment."

Decrying what he called "distracting" calls for offshore drilling, Reid said: "Simple math tells us we can't drill our way to freedom. And basic science tells us we can't keep belching pollution into the sky."

In comments echoed by many of the other speakers at the Conference, Reid called upon Congress to pass a National Portfolio Standard for renewable energy - the Senate has tried 8 times in the last year to do so, and failed by as little as one vote. He also talked about the need to build a national "smart grid" for electricity, and described the enormous economic opportunity, the hundreds of thousands of jobs, and the billions of dollars in savings that investing in renewable energy would bring the country.

John Creyts, Principal of McKinsey & Company said their latest study shows that if the US were to pursue policies of efficiency and renewable energy, "there is no doubt we'd be a richer, stronger, safer economy."

The Clinton Challenge
Former President Bill Clinton laid out a 10-point plan Monday that included expanded research for carbon dioxide storage and accelerating a shift toward plug-in hybrid electric cars. "Let's face it, we're not close, not even close, to where we need to be," Clinton said. At the state and local level there is an "astonishing lack of knowledge among contractors, architects, and engineers," even as more and more cities and states are adopting green building requirements.

Clinton challenged the crowd of politicians, representatives, financiers and industry leaders to capture the public imagination by making one country or state completely self-sufficient. "Beyond our borders, any Caribbean nation. In Africa, Liberia or Rwanda are small and well-governed. In Southeast Asia, East Timor or Papua New Guinea. In the US, Puerto Rico imports 100% of their energy; but sun, wind and efficiency could make Puerto Rico completely self-sufficient."

"We've got to convince people it can be done," said Clinton, which is why he's challenged investors and governors across the country to see who can be the first state to be 100% self-sufficient, "One state should prove you can do it. It would rock the world."

Ultimately, said Clinton, "Kyoto was not met because nobody figured out how to make the number's work...We've just got to find a way to turn our good intentions into concrete programs."

Is Pickens Blowin' in the Wind?
A man who believes he has a grasp on the numbers is Texas oil baron T. Boone Pickens, who presented his plan to develop wind energy to generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity, then use natural gas to power cars until hydrogen or plug-in electric cars become widely available. "I don't see many people from my party," said Pickens, a Republican. "I'm making new friends, and that's good."

Drawing on a white board, Pickens said we send $700 billion a year out of the country to buy oil. "Many environmentalists talk of problems with the oil economy, and many in clean tech talk about the promise of a clean economy. But few oil men talk about the bridge to get there. Al [Gore] wants 100% electric in ten years. We can't get there, it's not realistic. We need a bridge to the next generation."

For Pickens that bridge means developing the vast wind resources east of the rockies that stretch north from Sweetwater Texas all the way to the Canadian border, "We can create as much power as we want to." In 5 years, we could reduce our consumption of foreign oil by 30%, says Pickens. The $15 billion in tax credits that would spur that development are "insignificant compared to the $700 billion we export every year" by buying foreign oil. "Both sides say they're for it - why don't they pass it? We're logged up," says Pickens.

Pickens feels that "nobody's explaining oil to the American people the way it really is." So he's committing $58 million of his personal fortune to spread the message, and elevate it to #1 in the debate. Given John McCain's "We're going to drill here, and drill now" mantra at the Republican National Convention, it remains to be seen whether Pickens can convince politicians in his own party to adopt his plan.

By his own admission, Pickens has backed several losing candidates in the past, including Bob Dole and Rudy Guiliani. He advised both men that energy was a crucial issue for their platform. But during the '96 campaign Bob Dole told him, "Energy is a sleeping dog, and politicians do not wake up sleeping dogs."

Citibank CEO waffles on Clean Energy
But the dog has certainly woken up this election season, as Robert Rubin, of Citigroup pointed out. "Two issues will absolutely force themselves on the next president: Restoring sound fiscal conditions, and energy." Despite making a strong case for new energy policies, however, Rubin appeared unwilling to take his own advice.

"We need to take these risks seriously, he said. "We need to be highly proactive in facing economic issues and oil prices."

Rubin listed several reasons why we need to "act and act now." Current oil prices represent a "massive shift of wealth to oil producers," and the high price of oil is taking a major toll on our economy. The rising standards of living in China and India, and the corresponding increase in resource consumption will "create scarcity and limit growth." Global warming has a "high probability to be a threat of enormous consequences." All these factors combine for a situation of "geo-political risk and turmoil" which could lead to costly and dangerous military intervention around the globe.

"The case for acting now is absolutely clear. There is no doubt we have the capacity. But do we have the will to make politically difficult choices, versus easy choices which create the illusion of security?" Rubin asked the audience.

But when a representative from Rainforest Action Network asked him if Citibank would stop funding coal-fired power plants, Rubin contradicted himself. "Are we going to shift in a major way in coming months? I shouldn't think so. It's a commercial institution."

While trying to distance himself from the company by claiming that "I only act in an advisory capacity," Rubin, who is chairman of the Executive Committee of Citi admitted, "Well, I am the executive of the company." So despite his rhetoric about needing the "long term will to persist on a massive scale," he's unwilling to bring that will to his own institution.

Clearly, if a major financial institution's top management intends to keep funding polluting industries for "commercial" reasons, then we are a long way from "acting now" on clean energy. And if politicians are log-jammed over passing renewable portfolio standards, carbon taxes, and efficiency initiatives - the policies everybody agrees are necessary - then the promise of a clean energy economy will remain just that - an enormous opportunity instead of a reality.

Senator Harry Reid closed his remarks by saying humanity is facing a horizon. The task, he said, is to make this a "sun rising, not a sun setting." While there are many signs of progress technologically, the environmental urgency for change increases every day.

As the sun goes down in Las Vegas, there is still a lot of work to be done to bring about the dawn of a truly clean energy economy.

Go here for more information on the summit: www.cleanenergysummit.org