Solar, geothermal projects touted at Vegas summit

The Obama administration's top land official praised a geothermal electricity project in California's snow-capped mountains as an example for others during a headline appearance at a green energy conference in Las Vegas.

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel talked briefly during a speech Tuesday at the annual Clean Energy Summit about the Casa Diablo project near Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada.

Jewell says it's projected to produce enough electricity for 36,000 homes, and demonstrates a willingness by the federal Bureau of Land Management to cooperate with wind, solar and geothermal energy developers.

A Native American tribe also unveiled plans Tuesday for a solar electricity generating station on reservation land outside Las Vegas.

Federal Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Jewell headlined the daylong conference hosted by Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid.