Obama administration announces desert 'solar energy zones'

[txlibdem]

Obama administration announces desert 'solar energy zones'
By Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times, October 28, 2011

The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled its road map for solar energy development, directing large-scale industrial projects to 285,000 acres of desert land in the western U.S. while opening 20 million acres of the Mojave for new development.

The Bureau of Land Management's long-awaited "solar energy zones" are intended to make some of the desert's most sensitive landscapes less desirable for solar prospecting by identifying "sweet spots" that have already passed environmental requirements and therefore promise expedited permitting, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

"These 445 square miles of zones are … where development will be driven," Salazar said on a conference call with reporters.

... snip ...

The policy, which is expected to be finalized sometime next year, would not apply to the 13 solar projects already under construction across the West, nor the 79 pending applications that would occupy 685,000 acres of public land. There are 20 utility-scale solar applications awaiting approval in California.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-desert-20111028,0,7889585.story

[Ian David]

1. Hooray for Solartopia! n/t

[txlibdem]

5. The amount of solar energy that falls on the desert could easily provide for our energy needs

He's setting aside 445 square miles for solar energy!!! That may not supply 100% of our energy needs but it will be a whole lot closer to it than we are today!

And none of those areas are ecologically sensitive, none will have endangered species on them by the time construction sites (some turtles have to be moved to protected areas). This shows that the initiative is taking all things into consideration.

[mucifer]

2. Hopefully he will not sell the dessert to the Chinese. nt

[a simple pattern]

3. Why would that even cross your mind

surely his motives are unassailable

[txlibdem]

4. Someone will make a profit off of this... just like our current fossil fuel based system

That is not going to change without a drastic shift in our economic theory.