We had into the newspaper office some of the brass from NV Energy the other day for an editorial board to talk about the future of the company, power rates, means of generation, rate of return on equity, smart grids, peak loads, incentives, rebates, green power, conservation, cap and trade, brownouts, and the usual claptrap.

They were talking about how the Legislature had decided 25 percent of all company electricity must be created by renewables, which includes conservation methods. I think I remarked that I heard the lawmakers had also repealed the law of gravity.

Anyway the power guys said they have no plans in the near term to build any power generation using fossil fuels. It just would not pencil out given the various hurdles, including demands for carbon emission capture, etc.

Never once did the NV Energy guys bad mouth the politicians who hold sway over their livelihoods nor mention how the cost to consumers is affected by silly decisions by silly men who’ve bought into the green dogma, though they did provide the figures for how much more expensive things like solar power and wind power are than plain old coal and natural gas.

We joked (the editorial guys, not the power company guys) about how no one can build any power generation plants of any kind anywhere near anyone. No wind farms near Searchlight. No solar plants near the secret Air Force ranges. No nukes anywhere. No geothermal that might cause earthquakes. No coal, of course. No gas. No hamster cages.

At one point I remarked about how so many have bought into the faith of so-called renewables, except nukes, of course, like in the old Peter, Paul and Mary song. They looked at me with blank stares, like the adled uncle who was supposed to be kept in the attic during the dinner party with the new pastor. What we had there was a failure to communicate.

I had the tune spinning in my head but the lyrics would not come out.

OK, here’s a sample of the 1970s propaganda that has changed a generation or two. I like the song, but at what price?