LAS VEGAS, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton told attendees at a conference on clean energy in Nevada going green is both good for the planet and for business.
Clinton was the keynote speaker Monday at the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0 at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Speaking in a state where unemployment is in double digits, Clinton said energy efficiency can boost the economy by saving money for U.S. residents and by creating jobs.
The steps that have already been taken should be doubled and redoubled, Clinton said.
"I say all this because, while some things have been done, we're in a country that has just lost 7 million jobs," Clinton said. "We're still just playing with this."
Clinton compared the job gains from various types of energy. He said investing $1 billion in coal-fired plants creates 800 jobs, while the same money put into a solar thermal plant would create 1,900 and 3,000 in wind energy, the newspaper reported. Putting $1 billion into retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency would create 6,000 jobs, he said.
