Prelude to Tesla

Consider this a quick cheat sheet on "The Tesla Session" that will begin at high noon today in Carson City. Here's what you need to know about the 28th Special Session of the Nevada Legislature:

- The Tesla deal is now clocking in at about $1.3 billion cost to Nevada taxpayers.

- It still looks likely to be approved, but signs of discontent at the Legislature Building are starting to appear.

- Among those grumbling about Tesla are the "TEA" powered NPRI & AFP (fossil fuels forever!), progressive PLAN (worried about corporate welfare), car dealers (upset over the bill to authorize direct-to-consumer Tesla car sales), and the entertainment industry (Sorry, Nicholas Cage, but no more film tax credits for you!).

- Yet as Tesla keeps blazing trails in clean technology, Nevada now has the opportunity to lead the way in the clean energy (r)evolution.

- It's no secret that US Senator Harry Reid (D) pushed hard for this Tesla deal, as he's a big believer in the potential Tesla's gigafactory has to turbo-charge Nevada's economy.

- And he's not alone. From Northern Nevada business leaders to UNR & UNLV economists and state economic development officials, they're liking the $1.9 billion Tesla's gigafactory is expected to generate in tax revenue for the state, along with the roughly 21,000 jobs (directly and indirectly) that may result from Tesla's big move.

- But wait, there's more?! Perhaps Tesla won't have this special session all to itself. Last night, Jon Ralston reported that Enterprise (Southwest Las Vegas Valley) based Switch now wants to strike while the iron is hot. The data center company is now asking for its own tax credits for its proposed $750 million Southern Nevada facility and $250 million Northern Nevada project.

This is about to get even more interesting. Stay tuned here for more as the 28th Special Session of the Nevada Legislature commences.

Welcome, Tesla (?)

So it's official. It's finally happening. And of course, it's the talk of the town all over Reno.

Just moments ago, CNBC broke the news that Tesla has chosen Northern Nevada to house its new gigafactory. And already, a special session of the Nevada Legislature is being set for next week. And of course, we're already starting to hear all sorts of political spin and economic happy talk.

So what's the deal? We know Tesla is planning to spend $5 billion to build its 10,000 square foot gigafactory. What we don't yet know is how much Tesla is expecting the State of Nevada to kick in for construction.

We strongly suspect this deal will involve some Nevada taxpayer money, as a special session looks to be necessary. It's also been no secret that Tesla has demanded public subsidies for this gigafactory.

So how much will this cost us? Most likely, a cool $400 million.

And what are we getting out of this? Potentially 6,500 new jobs for the Reno/Sparks region, along with a breakthrough that may open the door to electric cars becoming more affordable for more consumers.

Here's the good news: This has the potential to actually make a dent in the long promised drive to diversify Nevada's economy. This also has the potential to kick-start the green tech sector and take it to new levels here in Nevada and nationally. Oh, and this can help quite a bit in our efforts to take on the challenges posed by climate change.

Here's the disturbing news: We're once again relying upon corporate welfare for any sort of economic development. And that's just not a sustainable business plan going forward. After all, take a look at how far Reno and Nevada have gone with Apple. Apple continues to laugh all the way to its offshore bank accounts while we're left holding the bag (full of holes, thanks to the many budget cuts we've endured over the past half-decade).

This is why we're experiencing mixed reactions now. On one hand, it's exciting to think that Nevada may be home to the next generation of transportation & energy innovation. But on the other, this achievement seems awfully tainted due to the $400 million we're having to bribe spend to convince Tesla to build the gigafactory in Northern Nevada. Is that money truly well spent? Or is it just more money being diverted from our already "grossly underfunded" schools and other critical parts of public infrastructure?

Right now, let's just say the 63 Nevadans who may soon have to head back to Carson City are about to step into a rather sticky situation.

Investing in Our Future Should Be a No-Brainer.

When we hear the G-O-TEA Presidential contenders, we often hear them spewing crap like this.

Climate change denial has become a litmus test for modern Republicans, but Rick Santorum, in his fondness for melding faith and government, has become one of the precious few to cite the Bible as evidence that the science-accepting crowd has it all wrong — and apparently the first to bring that thinking to the presidential stage.

“We were put on this Earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the Earth, to use it wisely and steward it wisely, but for our benefit not for the Earth’s benefit,” Santorum told a Colorado crowd earlier this month.

He went on to call climate change “an absolute travesty of scientific research that was motivated by those who, in my opinion, saw this as an opportunity to create a panic and a crisis for government to be able to step in and even more greatly control your life.”

The surging presidential hopeful fleshed out this argument further this Sunday on CBS Face The Nation, when asked to justify his recent controversial claim that President Obama has a “phony theology” that’s not “based on the Bible.” He said the President sides with “radical environmentalists” who don’t understand what God intended to be the relationship between humans and the planet.

“When you have a worldview that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth; by things that frankly are just not scientifically proven, for example, the politicization of the whole global warming debate — this is all an attempt to, you know, to centralize power and to give more power to the government,” Santorum said.

Wow. So "Frothy" Ricky Santorum is basing all his extremist policies on his extreme theology. Isn't that precious?

Well, at least Willard "Mr. 1%" Romney is basing all his extremist policies on something more commonly seen in politics today: MONEY. That seems to be why Romney is so strongly opposed to the fastest growing industry in America.

The U.S. solar industry grew 102% [in 2010] and [was] on track to grow another 100% [in 2011]. What other industry doubled its growth during one of the worst economic periods in our history?

The GOP has been using the Solyndra debacle to talk about “pet alternative energy.” This nonsense ignores the incredible growth and cost reductions taking place in the solar industry. Since 2008, average PV [photovoltaic] prices have fallen 80%. And with innovative approaches to installation, the total installed cost of installations have fallen substantially as well.

A recent report found that America actually had a $1.9 billion trade surplus of solar products to the rest of the world in 2010. And that same report, put together by GTM Research, found that 73% of the economic value of a solar installation stays in the U.S.

And our next door neighbor is seeing a phenomenal amount of investment in green technology.

When it comes to U.S. venture capital funding for the most promising new green technology firms, there's California and there's everybody else.

California companies raked in $2.8 billion, or 57%, of the $4.9 billion in venture capital offered up in the so-called clean-tech category of funding nationwide last year, according to a recently released analysis from Ernst & Young. [...]

"It's a good indicator of the innovation that can be found here and of the opportunities available in California," said Mark Sogomian, an Ernst & Young partner and leader of its clean-tech group in Los Angeles.

California has that "secret sauce that allows companies to grow and develop and gain capital," Sogomian said. [...]

"Clean-tech is still in the early stages of a long-term journey," Spencer said. "We've reached a point where new products and services are ready to be launched, and as these products come to market, we're seeing renewed interest, innovation and opportunity."

And we've seen for ourselves the potential for green tech to create jobs and restore our economy. Just look at all the potential we have!

It's just too bad that petty politics continues to get in the way of true progress. If Ricky Santorum really doesn't believe in climate change, then he needs to talk to folks in Reno who have experienced its extreme effects firsthand. And he needs to talk to water officials both in Snake Valley and in Las Vegas over the rural Nevada and Utah water they're fighting over (due to the ongoing region-wide Southwestern Drought). We're already seeing the extreme effects of climate change take hold in Nevada.

However, we're also starting to see the effects of action to curb climate change. When we've seen investment in clean energy, we've seen jobs being created. Investment in green technology is truly a "win-win" for Nevada, and for America. And for the likes of Romney and Santorum (and the Nevada politicians who follow them) to oppose something that's such a clear "win-win" for America is downright stupid.