wilderss was hated. johnson: he sent one of his top aides, kai anderson back to nevada. anderson: working on wilderness bills with reid was a great lesson for me and sort of outreach to a whole range of constituencies, many of whom weren't super thrilled that my boss was in the senate or th i worked for him. johnson: right off the bat, i mean, i d a significant level of distrust because i felt this had been improperly rammed down our throat. anderson: once you sit down with people and talk through issues, you pretty quickly come to the conclusion that even if you're not politically aligned, all the people i worked with out there love the state of nevada. johnson: there is no place like nevada. anderson: there's sort of two diffent venues for having those sorts of conversations. one is the sort of classic open public meeting. you take all comers. those are important, particularly from the

perspective of making sure that you're connected with everybody who would have an interest, who's paying attention in a fashion that they have an opportunity to have a say. we would go until nobody else wanted to talk. i've missed flights doing those sorts of meetings. people do like to talk, and it's important that you hear them. [cheering and booing] that said, we didn't resolve most of the details of those wilderness bills. a lot of the work ended up happening after those public meetings, with sort of private side conversations. some people view things happening behind closed doors as untoward, and i think that's a real misconception. and the reason i say that is, people aren't inclined to share their bottom line in public. they're gonna tell you what their preferred course is, but they're not gonna tell you what they can live with. a--it's not human nature, and b--it's not

very strategic to have the other side understand exactly what you're willing to do. we would sit down with folks, whether it was in the ranching industry or the mining industry or in the wilderness community and say, "look, tell us what is most important to you. tell us what you're most worried about and tell us the truth. we're not gonna share that information with the folks that you view as your opponents." johnson: kai met with me first, and then later i assembled presentatives of a number of sportsmen groups and individuals who knew the area. kai, to his benefit, not only met with us and the department of wildlife, but went in the field with ranchers who had similar concerns. and we expressed our concerns to kai. we laid out on this conference table detailed maps of each of the wilderness areas.

we delineated needed access points on existing roads into the wilderness areas that had been closed off. reid: if they had a compint that was valid, we had maps with us, and we'd just change it they'dall me, "is that ok?" i'd say, "sure, go ahead and do that." johnson: at best we wouldn't get everything we asked for. anderson: at the end of the day, when we cut a deal, we're gonna try to cut a deal that does as good a job at minimizing the things that you're concerned about and maximizing the things that you want. johnson: this process came to an end when an amendment was passed through congress. [gunshot] quite frankly, we got most of what we wanted as did the ranchers, as did the department of wildlife, as did some of the miningnterests. and quite frankly, we have some disappointments. all in all, with that amendment, my conclusion is it

has worked pretty well. reid: my work on wilderness damaged my popularity significantly in rural nevada, but it all turned out for the better. because after i got my wilderness legislation done, i would go to these communities. no one ever raised wilderness as an issue, because once it's in place, people are proud of it. johnson: probably the closest i will ever come to a religious experience is being on my horse on the crest of a mountain range in nevada with a tremendous vista in front of me. you are just at one with the earth.

christensen: there are a lot of different ways of using political power. one of the ways is bringing people together to craft a solution, but sometimes it's using power behind the scenes. sometimes it's making a phone call. man: one of the most important energy sources for the nevada power company is the reid gardn power plant, located just off interstate near moapa. the plant supplies arly 40%f the power for the las vegas community. man: reid gardner was the main power plant to te electric to las vegas when they first put it in. they located it out here next to the reservation, which is not unusual. it rlly justorphed into the big pollutiofactor that just put jury onto the rez. man:roblems first arose in the unfinished boiler complex, when a variety of construction tradesmen began complaining of respiratory prlems 2 wks

ago. woman: when i was growing up, i didn't realize that we were being affected. my friends, thinking back on my life, they would cough all the time. my brother was working down there. he'd always be covered in black. his clothes would be black, his face would be black. he died of an enlarged heart. lee: you know, it's a coal-burner, so they had coal ash and they put it up on the hill. they actually put it everywhere. and of course, when it dried out, the dust blew, it would look like a big gray cloud blowing off from top of the hill right on us. baca: in the 2000s, there was a

proposal to expand a coal ash pond at reid gardner, and there were proposals to add additional coal-powered power plants around nevada. woman: this is all the atements from people of 2006 baca: there was a significant amount of backlash from the tribal communities and from conservationists regarding this potential expansion of coal power. chisholm: it was really sierra club's "beyond coal" campaign that put the focus throughout the country, but particularly in the west, on closing down coal plants. lee: the sierra club stepped up, and they had the resources, the attorneys, scientists, and they come in and theyas helping the tribe fight this battle. woman: it is a david vs. goliath fight. fewer than 400 moapa paiutes taking on nv energy, trying to shut down the reid gardner coal plant. man: here's the bottom line. you at home pay for electricity made at reid gardner with your money. moapa paiutes say they pay for

that electricity with their lives. lee: we filed a lawsuit against nevada power, the tribe and sierra club, and that's where things got real. man: i am paiute. i am proud of who i am, and i'm proud of all of you to be here. thank you very much. raborn: they brought home their message through a 50-mile walk from the moapa reservation to las vegas that took 3 days. the tribe ultimately succeeded, convincing the public, convincing the utility that owned the plant that it was time for them to close the plant after over 50 years. [explosion] reid: and so i started looking at that power plant--exacerbated heart conditions and everything else. so i made up my mind i was gonna get rid of coal in nevada.

i read in the paper that they were going to open 4 new coal-fired generating plants in nevada. i called mary, i called my vegas operation. i said, "i'm not gonna let that happen." and what i did, i called a hedge fund. i told the guy, "look, you back away from that coal plant, or i will get even with you. i don't know what i'm gonna do, but i'll figure something out." [phone dial tone] biden: every time i hear a dial tone, i'll think of harry. chisholm: it's a little bit of a joke in nevada around, you know, the harry reid phone call. "i want to see the grazing rits bought out of great basin national park." and he hangs up. "i want to plant some joshua trees. where do find 'em?" and he hangs up. pelosi: harry? [dial tone] christensen: by this time, people knew that they would write harry reid off at their own peril. he knew how to get things done, and they

could either get on boaror be ft behind. baca: while senator reid was working to kill coal plants, at the same time, the nevada state legislature was actually making its own ves towards ending coalower. atkinson: expand renewable energy, retirement of coal ants. althose in favor, say "aye." all: aye. baca: senate bill 123 was passed. it basically ended coal power in nevada, and it mandated that there would be no more power plants and that the existing power plants had to be atkinson: ok, we are adjourned. raborn: right around that same time was, you know, the recession. woman: the stock market is now down 21%. man: 'cause we're now down 43%. man: the dow traders are standing there watching in amazement, and i don't blame 'em. raborn: in d.c., senator and his leadership staff and congress worked to pass the american reinvestment and recovery act. reid: what we're trying to do is

stop a dression. that's why president obama says that this bill is so important to the american people. it's not only important for the short term to create millions of jobs, but it'll also do things for the long-term, like start doing something about our energy grid. if we can produce renewable energy and take it someplace, it creates thousands of jobs in nevada, and that's what this legislation is all about. raborn: there was $6 billion in at act specifically for renewable energy development an transmission line development. anderson: the staff quickly put together the plan that would lead to development of transmission in nevada that would connect the northern and southern grids in the state for the first time electrically. baca: an interesting element of this transition from coal power to green energy sources is some of the social justice component that you see at play with the moapa band of paiute

who saw the end of this power plant that had been making their community ill, and they transitioned and really became part of the green energy movement by building their own solar power plant. reid: this power plant in moapa is really the first solar project to be built on tribal lands, certainly in nevada and likely in the whole country. lee: senator reid, in our opinion, was for us. the actual actions that he took, i'm not sure about, but i know there was influence there 'cause he's a very powerful person and he was a friend to us. [busy signal] [dialing] christensen: so behind the scenes, reid is helping to set up this architecture for a transition to renewable energy. he's talking to the companies that want to build new coal power plants in nevada, and he's saying "no way, but i will let you build a transmission line." he's calling up the mayor of los angeles, and he's persuading him

to agree to buy por from the moapa solar facility. [pho ringing] reid: so i called the mayor of l.a., and i said, "i know you're trying to go to a renewable energy. i can get you 600, 700 megawatts within a period of time. in a year, we'll build a facility. can you use it?" he said, "you bet." the indians sold their power to los angeles, and now they've added to it and done more. lee: the moapa solar, it's sitting on 2,200 acres--photovoltaic. it's a fixed system, as opposed to single axis, which tracks the sun one way or a double axis which tracks it both directions. christensen: each of these pieces adds up to a dramatic transformation of the energy system in nevada and the american west.

baca: it's an interestin example of how you can have the just transition. lee: a just transition means that as we transition from one form of energy to another, from fossil fuels to renewable, as we transition our economy, that we also address historical injustices, like the injustices to the moapa tribe. the main thing is it gives us the means, financial means to grow. we got guaranteed income, and it's not based on crops or the weather or floods or nothing. this is based on that the sun's gonna shine, you're gonna get electric out of it. the credit rating for the tribe went up, and the fact that we did this industrial scale solar, it kind of put us in a different kind of a club. simmons: we led the way. we were breaking the ground for solar, especially for indian tribes. and of course we're really proud of that. and it's changed the

work on a solar plant, you know, you can make enough money to chan your whole life. so i think we were able to do that for the younger people. we created a name for moapa, and wherever we go we're known for that. christensen: in the obama administration, reid is at the height of his powers as the leader of the democratic senate caucus. he's the most powerful democratic politician, aside from obama, but he's still fighting a battle that has dogged his whole career, and that's the push to bury high-level nuclear waste at yucca mountain tt began with the screw nevada bill in 17. anderson: nuclear waste policy act passed in 1982, the same year that reid was elected to the house. basically, it laid out a process by which the u.s. government

would look at a variety of permanent storage repositories for high-leveluclear waste. man: that did not occur, and it did not occur because politics, not science dictated the conclusion. man: senors voti in the affirmive... anderson: growing weary of actually doing that scientific process in987, theongress, in its wisdom, decided that it would rewrite that bill and choose yucca as the preferred alternative. chisholm: yucca mountain was a si that was identified called the nevada test site,as which is where the federal government's early atomic testing occurred. man: ...2... 1! [explosion] baca: it felt like it was coming back to that old narrative. nevada was a wasteland at nobody needed to care about what they were putting here. woman: now you may be wondering why yucca mountain is being considered a suitable site to dump nuclear waste. anderson: that was not a

scientific process. that was tom foley representing the state of washington, taking care of hanford. that was jim wright representing the state of texas, taking care of deaf smith county, texas, and senator reid being a freshman. man: the "yea"s are 61, the "nay"s are 28, and the conference port is agreed to. reid: i think it's important to recognize that nuclear waste is not a partisan issue. chisholm: republicans, democrats, ranchers, miners, urban people, outdoor people--everybody knew that this was... reid: the screw nevada bill. woman: the screw nevada bill. man: the screw nevada bill. anderson: it wasn't chosenn the merits. it was chosen for pure political reasons. man: who has only 2 senators, no political clout whatsoever, and who lives in a place that is perceived at least to be nothing but desert and wasteland? and they said, "a-ha! nevada." man: we in nevada will not stand for it. [applause] man: a coalition of elected

officials, environmentalists, and businessmen is waging a guerrilla war to kill a project they believe has been shoved down their throats. reid: the repulsive and mendacious political backstabbing represented by the deal cut against the people of nevada should bring a blush of shame to the face of every meer of coress whoas pported is nucle waste legislatn. ll, frany, i was new senator, and i thought we were doomed. i didn't know what to do about it. [explosion] man: workers dlled and blasted a arter tunnel. reid: the biggest opening we g was bill clinton... al gore, to his credit. they knew what a big deal this was in nevada, so they came out publicly opposed to yucca mountain. that was one reason we were able to stall it as long as we did. raborn: as senator reid gained more and more leadership in the senate, he was also able to use that power to put a stranglehold on the appropriations process

and starve the project of funding. reid: i used my seat on the appropriations committee to help cut $30 million from the waste site budget. i urge the president to veto legislation that would put a temporary dump at the nevada test site. i won't quit until my colleagues understand that transporting nuclear waste to nevada is dangerous. and we don't want a nuclear waste dump in our backyard. [children laughing] anderson: the nuclear industry has spent 4 decades underestimating senator reid and his ability to fight back. instead, they picked a fight with the wrong guy. man: the senator from nevada. reid: unsupportable. mikulski: the senator from nevada. reid: totally unsupportable. we have the nevada test site, nellis air force base, fallon air naval station, hawthorne ammunition depot. we have done our share. it's not compatible with tourism, which is our nuer-one industry. peoe are afraid of it, based upon chernobyl, based upon the experience of the people in st. george, where they have the

highest cancer rate in the world, literally. we don't want it if it's 1,700 ftcu underound or 10,000 feet underground. when nevada was first mentioned as a possible dump site for nuclear waste, i said, "no way." my goal is to deliver these signed petitions to the president and impress upon him that nevadans don't want a nuclear dump in their backyard. man: joining me now live is u.s. senator harry reid. what's your strongest argument to keeping nuclear waste out of nevada? reid: how are you gonna get it here? we had 400,000 truck accidents last year. 14,000 of those dealt with hazardous merials. we had 2,100 train wrecks last year. over 1,000 of those dealt with hazardous materials. this is an accident waiting to happen. man: and they say most americans will join the opposition once they see the web of highways and railroads for transporting the waste from 131 sites in 45 states. chisholm: in order to move the

radioactive waste to yucca mountain for long-term storage, one of the proposed approaches was to move it by rail car, particularly through an area called garden valley... at the heart of one of the remotest parts of the great basin. baca: it would have permanently altered that landscape. you have these beautiful mountain ranges that encircle this massive basin that was once a giant inland sea. it really takes you back in time. it shows you some of the most essential parts of nevada.

reid: part of that wonderful place is a man who's a famous, famous, world-famous artist. name is heizer--michael heizer. anderson: who is michael heizer? um... charles kuralt: michael heizer is a modern sculptor. instead of a chisel, michael heizer usually uses dynamite and bulldozers to create hisrt. reid: he workefor 40 years building this monument in the middle of nowhere. kuralt: in the nevada desert, hours from any big town, he has created massive pieces of sculpture from concrete and steel and granite and compacted earth. anderson: he's a scientist, he's an artist, he's an engineer--all in the sort of pursuit of building this thing that i'm not gonna describe, 'cause i can't. baca: "city," created by michael heizer, is a place that... the...just...

chisholm: "city" is... it's hard to describe it until you walk it. reid: it is a mile and a half long. it represents all these great artistic things that have taken place over the centuries. i first ard about this project out in the middle ofowhere. and i thought, "who cares?" but all you had to do was go look at it, and you know why people would care about it. first of all, to meet him is to meet a true iconic american. there's nobody like him. heizer: you got my rock in the...? obviously, there's a lot of acreage in this part of the world that isn't developed. so there's a lot of potential, lot of agencies and opportunistic people see all this backcountry and want to exploit it. a highway from arizona through here. the mx missile silo truck,

agricultural things cae these water companies. it's just endless. i think he ended up liking it. i think he did. yeah, i'm pretty sure he did. i think after he sat out for a while, he liked it. reid: michael heizer was truly a nevadan, and i did everything i could to help with that project of his. i was bound and determined to preserve that city, that area. anderson: senator reid and his team were thinking through how to protect the landscape scale artwork by michael heizer in a fashion that was appropriate for the scope and scale of