As you know all too well, the recession has hit our rural areas especially hard, and we're still feeling the effects. That's one of the reasons I've been fighting for new ways to create jobs and diversify Nevada's economy.
The passage of the economic recovery act, which will bring more than $1.5 billion to Nevada, was a tremendous step in the right direction. Just as the recession hit Nevada's rural areas as harshly as anywhere in the nation, the stimulus has the ability to benefit rural Nevada just as significantly.
Tourism has been the primary driving force of our state's economy for a long time, but its success is dependent on whether people have the money to take vacations. During a recession you can reliably predict that people will take fewer trips to Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe or our national parks. A decline in tourism means less revenue for our state's budget to fund vital services including education, police, and road maintenance, to name a few. When tourism suffers, Nevada suffers.
We have to spur job growth now, in addition to tourism. That's where renewable energy comes in. Nevada has it all: solar, wind and geothermal. All we have to do is tap into those resources to get Nevada back to work, diversify our state's economy, and reduce our reliance on foreign oil.
Working with President Obama, I, along with my colleagues in Congress, have put forth a comprehensive energy strategy which makes hefty investments in renewable energy, especially on public lands that are ready for fast track initiatives.
When Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was in the state recently, we announced that federal agencies would be working with Western leaders to designate tracts of U.S. public lands in the West as prime zones for a number of job creating enterprises.
It's going to take some time to see the results of these new initiatives, as we are only in the first stages of our economic recovery, but rural Nevada is positioned in a singularly advantageous way when it comes to renewable energy job creation.
• Sen. Harry Reid can be reached through his Web site at reid.senate.gov.