Senator Harry Reid’s SHARP Network page was recently updated with new information on his stances on renewable energy and the Yucca mountain nuclear waste repository.

Renewable Energy
Senator Reid signed onto a letter with a bipartisan group of senators to the Department of Energy encouraging the Department to fully fund research in geothermal energy. In a press release, he says that “Geothermal energy has enormous potential to provide clean energy throughout Nevada and across the West…We [he and 12 other Senators] are urging the Energy Department to adequately fund this vital research and to follow the guidance in last year’s energy bill to accelerate the development of technologies to tap into this vast renewable energy resource.”

On October 18, 2007, Senator Reid released a report (pdf) on job growth from renewable energy saying: “So many states, including Arizona and California, are creating jobs by actively developing this industry. If those other states can do it, then Nevada certainly can do it and be the leader and catalyst in our country’s energy revolution. We have endless renewable energy sources that are being wasted everyday that we do not tap into them. The sooner we invest in renewable energy, the sooner we can put more Nevadans to work, meet our state’s energy demands, and protect our air.”

Yucca Mountain:
Senator Reid has been vocally opposed the Yucca Mountain Repository for storing radioactive waste. When the Department of Energy said that it would not be able to meet a deadline to file a license application for the facility, Senator Reid released a statement saying: “This is excellent news for Nevada and the nation. Nevada should not be the nation’s nuclear dumping ground nor should millions of Americans be put at risk to ship tons of nuclear waste here. While I know the DOE will continue to try to limp forward, it is clear they are wasting their time and valuable taxpayer dollars hoping to build a dump that will never see the light of day.”