Fact Checking Harry Reed's Claim of 1000s of Green Jobs Created in His Hometown

Harry Reid had a Twitter town hall last night. When asked about creating green jobs in Nevada, Reid tweeted this:

Searchlight, Nevada is Harry Reid's hometown. According to City-Data.com, the town  had the population of 760 in 2007 and there are very few jobs in Searchlight; much less green jobs. Last month, voters in Searchlight disputed Reid's green job claim.

“ ‘Name one person in this town who has a job in the solar industry,’ said Tim Williams, a bartender at the Searchlight Nugget, where Reid is a regular when he’s in town. A dozen patrons shook their heads. ‘I don’t think clean energy is a bad thing, but it’s not bringing us any jobs,’ said Williams, describing himself as a Democrat…” (Coral Davenport, “Promise of Jobs from Solar, Wind Power a Hard Sell in Desert,” National Journal, 8/29/2011)

According to Reid's own Senate office website, only 340 permanent "green" jobs have been created in Nevada by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) and the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008.

Senator Reid Created Clean Energy Jobs in Nevada. Through the Senator’s efforts in passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) and the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, nearly 340 permanent clean energy jobs were created throughout Nevada.