A culture of “no” is stalling our progress as a country
Making the most of Nevada’s sunny skies is the Copper Mountain Solar complex in Eldorado Valley, pictured on Sept. 5, 2024. This year, an even larger solar farm, the Esmeralda 7, was planned on federally-owned land northwest of Las Vegas. The project would have combined seven separate developers, creating enough energy to power almost 2 million homes. For undisclosed reasons, the government has put the project on ice. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)
A culture of “no” is stalling our progress as a country
Anyone who has visited Nevada knows the Silver State has an abundance of another natural resource: sunlight. Naturally, lawmakers there have been determined to make the most of it. The desert state generates about a third of its electricity from solar panels, the highest in the country on a per capita basis.
Since 2019, leaders from both parties have supported plans to draw more than half its energy from renewable sources, especially solar.
Increasingly, however, those lofty ambitions seem unlikely to succeed for the same reasons that energy projects across the country just can’t seem to make much headway: The country is consumed by a culture of “no.”
The Iola Register needs your voice. We welcome your on-topic commentary. Comments are moderated for civility. Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.