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LIVE BLOG: National Clean Energy Summit 2.0

-- Benton -- 08/10/2009

Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and energy executive T. Boone Pickens are in Las Vegas today, headlining National Clean Energy Summit 2.0.

Put on the by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and hosted by Senator Reid and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the second annual summit will focus on how to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency, create good jobs and advance energy independence.

Live video of the event can be found at the summit's website, Cleanenergysummit.org, thanks in part to UNLV. The event begins at 1 pm E.T. and will run until 7 p.m. A press conference will follow the conclusion of the summit.

Follow the Summit live via blog below:

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1:13 p.m. ET: "I am now part of the 'Pickens' church." - Harry Reid

The summit kicked off at UNLV with John D. Podesta kicking things off by thanking Sen. Reid and the other hosts. Podesta is currently the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, but is absolutely more well known for his former job as the Chief-of-Staff for President Bill Clinton.

Following the current panel there be a lunch break. After the break President Clinton will speak and then there will be a town hall-type session. Questions can be emailed in at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Make sure to include name and hometown when sending questions in. 

Vice President Al Gore gave an opening statement as well:

"This is madness. We owe it to ourselves. Who are we to make a decision to just be more wasteful… in the teeth of every scientific organization in the world.”
“When our kids ask us years from now: didn’t you notice that the entire polar ice cap was melting in the summer of 2009. Didn’t you notice these storms, the 500 year floods. What were you all doing? Watching American idol? Sooner or later we’re going to have to wake up and take this for what it is. This is our generation’s mandate and responsibility.”
 

1:45 Moderator Tim Wirth introduced the panel in two parts, alloting the first 45 minutes for talks on Renewable Energy and the second on energy efficiency. The discussion wil start with Energy Secretary Chu. 

2:45 Chu began by saying that the United States needs to have a "second industrial revolution." He spoke of the challenge of the U.S. gearing up to take a leadership role in renewable energy.

During his comments, T. Boone Pickens suggested changed the 6.5 million 18-wheelers shipping goods across the United States be switched from diesel to natural gas, cutting the 4.5 million barrels of oil the U.S. receives from OPEC in half. His comments were lauded by Senator Maria Cantwell (D - WA):

"When you have an oil man from Texas saying that we need to get off of oil, you don't need a better mission statement than that." She went on to talk about the leadership of the state of Nevada: "The axiom for energy ought to be 'as Nevada goes, so goes the nation."

But it was Vice President Gore who summed up the goal of this year's summit: "We need to not only change the lights and the windows, we need to change the laws and the policies."

The summit is taking a lunch break right now, to be followed by former President Clinton's remarks at 5 p.m. Eastern.