LAS VEGAS (AP) — The politics of renewable energy is on the agenda in battleground Nevada, where Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is hosting a fifth annual green energy conference at Las Vegas’ Bellagio hotel.

A speech by Obama administration Interior Secretary Ken Salazar opens today’s day-long event, dubbed National Clean Energy Summit 5.0.

Ending the conference will be an afternoon address by Bill Clinton, a “fireside chat” involving the former president and his former White House chief-of-staff, John Podesta, and a closing speech by Reid.

Podesta went on to co-chair Barack Obama’s presidential transition, and now heads a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

Clean energy and the failure of some solar energy projects have been key issues in the campaigns of Obama and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.