Greener News » politicians http://greenernewsblog.com Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:28:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Turning “Wastelands” into Energy http://greenernewsblog.com/2009/07/turning-%e2%80%9cwastelands%e2%80%9d-into-energy/ http://greenernewsblog.com/2009/07/turning-%e2%80%9cwastelands%e2%80%9d-into-energy/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:34:06 +0000 keithabecker http://greenernews.wordpress.com/?p=99 280502 Montana SThe United States Interior Department has found a use for 670,000 acres of previously considered worthless sunny deserts and wind-swept plains: solar energy production.

As part of President Obama’s pledge to move away from reliance on fossil fuels and to double renewable energy in three years, the plan has identified 24 solar energy zones spanning six states that could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.

At the same time, it has become a controversy as environmentalists and politicians, including U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, have decried federal plans to open ecologically sensitive land to development.

“This environmentally sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflicts with wildlife, other natural resources or land users,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, hoping to appease doubts about the plan.

The department says the objective is to provide landscape-style planning and zoning for solar projects on Bureau of Land Management lands in the West, allowing a more efficient process for permitting and sitting responsible solar development .

Read more on Reuters.

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