NCET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has found a refuge in the nation’s preoccupation with record energy prices.

While the push by President Bush and congressional Republicans for more oil drilling is resonating with voters, the Nevada Democrat is focused on solar and other renewable energy sources, which happen to be more abundant in his home state than almost anywhere else in the country. Read more:

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Nevada economic development agencies post fewer businesses moving to the area, but more jobs, in some cases.

Recruitment numbers at the Nevada Development Authority were down from 43 companies in fiscal 2006 to 27 companies in the newest fiscal year.

Company numbers were down in Henderson as well, though the number of jobs created jumped from 770 in fiscal 2006 to nearly 1,200 in the latest year.

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The region’s smallest entrepreneurs — the sort of folks who borrow a couple thousand dollars and launch a business out of the front seat of a truck — pay close attention to the national economic woes.

They just don’t let it bother them too much. The Nevada Microenterprise Initiative, which provides loans as small as $2,500 to start-up businesses, continues to see a steady stream of borrowers at its Reno office.

In fact, the organization is on track to match the $600,000 in lending it handled during 2007, says Deborah Prout, president and chief executive officer.

That $600,000 reflects a lot of loan applications. The median loan at Nevada Microenterprise Initiative totals about $5,000, and the organization never makes a loan larger than $35,000. Read more:

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A California company plans to build a commercial-scale plant to convert municipal solid waste to ethanol at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center.

Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc. says the Sierra BioFuels plant will produce more than 10 million gallons of ethanol per year, processed from nearly 90,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste that would otherwise have been disposed of in landfills.

Fulcrum BioEnergy will design, finance, construct, own and operate the plant. Set on 11 acres on Peru Drive, the facility will include four buildings. Read full story:

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Funding clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power through tax credit incentives while building a new transmission system will help pull the U.S. economy out of its downward spiral, former President Clinton said last week.

“We have to rewire America,” he said in a call with reporters that included Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and University of Nevada, Las Vegas President David Ashley. They announced that Clinton will participate in the Aug. 19 National Clean Energy Summit at UNLV, along with Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Read more:

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