Maybe they thought when we said we needed a moratorium on coal, we meant solar??
As much as I wish this was an Onion headline, it was in The New York Times today.
Seriously. In all their foresight and wisdom our federal government just put a moratorium on new solar projects on public land for at least 2 years. Projects that could power 20 million homes. Because of environmental concerns.
Say what?
Now, I’m not denying that there are important environmental (and other) concerns about where they put these solar projects.
I find it curious that a government that has done more to destroy the environment and set us back decades in the fights for, say, clean water and clean energy, is suddenly so interested in environmental impact.
I also haven’t heard of any moratoriums on coal, nuclear, oil, natural gas, or other dirty energy development on public lands. And I’m no expert, but I feel like I can say with great confidence (and can save the govt hours of research and millions of dollars) that those projects are about a MILLION TIMES MORE environmentally destructive than solar development.
Rather than blocking progress on renewable development our government should be supporting massive investment in clean, just energy development and infrastructure. Duh.
If you are like me and are ready for a brand new era of government that benefits something other than the dirty energy industry, sign the Power Vote pledge.
If you think we need a moratorium on coal and a surge of solar, get involved with Power Vote. We need everyone to help build a movement that transforms our government and our country.
I am ready to make sure that a year or two from now I’m not writing about my country banning solar but banning coal. I can see it. Can you?
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#$%$@&$@%#%#!$%!#%!#%#% That’s unbelievably frustrating! And in the midst of widespread calls to drill the coasts and the arctic. That makes yet another outrageous page in the tomb of irresponsible leadership.
Maybe the EPA should have a youth advisory board.
This is Fing absurd! While they all but rubber-stamp approvals for oil, coal, gas, oil shale, etc. exploration and extraction on federal lands, the Bush Administration drags their feet and throws up roadblock after roadblock for renewable energy. This is outrageous!
Coal certainly powered the industrial revolution. Oil fueled the economic prosperity of the 20th Century. But with fossil fuel prices skyrocketing, supplies dwindling, and our dependence on them threatening our economy and our climate, it’s time to find the energy sources that will fuel the 21st Century. It’s time for a new, clean energy future for America.
Make sure President Bush and Congress wakes up to that fact. Sign the Power Vote pledge. Call your Congress critter and tell them this move is bull$h!t. Then we’ll get back to work building the new American energy future we want to see with our bare hands.
Thank you, Sierra Club.
Hey Morgan,
That isn’t a bad idea. Wanna make it happen? Let’s hatch a plan.
-Richard
Just to clarify my comment…
The local San Diego Sierra Club was one of the main opposition groups to the proposed large solar facility and accompanying transmission line that would provide 400-900MW of clean energy to San Diego. One of the main opponents to the project (and SC employee) spoke at the Sierra Club Midwest Clean Energy Futures Conference. He questioned every detail in the case, including whether the concentrated solar panels that achieved the highest efficiency rating since 1980 would actually offset any CO2 emissions. The largest part of the opposition was over the transmission line, which would partially cross a wildlife preserve. Hearing this message was one of the most frustrating, upsetting, and exasperating experiences of my life.
In any case, the opposition to this solar facility is essentially the main causal factor of the federal review, and unfortunately, the Sierra Club chapter is at least partially responsible.
You can read a history of the San Diego chapter’s involvement here and the Sierra Club’s comments to the Environmental Impact Statement here.
If we’re going to kick global warming’s ass, we need to be doing everything we can to offset carbon emissions immediately. We should advocate for distributed generation and local control of facilities whenever possible, but in reality, we’re going to need some hella-big transmission lines too. A very large portion of the southwest is owned by the BLM, Fish and Wildlife, Forest Service, and other federal institutions, and much of it has been classified as wildlife areas. This is going to mean that wildlife preserves will be crossed. It sucks, but in the bigger picture, I think we can all agree that the alternative (coal) is much worse.
I also vote for a youth advisory board - this is our future they’re messing with.
Interesting to read (especially as a native San Diegan…) This certainly shows that if everyone wants no impact of any kind anywhere, then nothing will happen. Maybe this the perfect defeating the good…
Greetings, concerned readers.
I rarely read threads on the internet because it mostly gets me down, but as an energy professional and a concerned human being, I feel that my weighing in on this issue might help people make the right decision or, at least, provide another viewpoint.
There are some things that are patently evident in the past 50 years of US Energy policy:
1. Renewables work: they have worked since the time of the Roman Republic (or earlier) and provide energy that can not be measured in terms of “efficiency,” “payback,” or CO2 avoidance. The short answer is, “they provide free energy, they provide more energy than they take to produce, and they don’t burn anything.”
2. Nuclear energy is very expensive, are a national security issue, and we still, after decades, cannot deal with the waste.
3. Our oil policy is just simply myopic.
The disheartening thing about the recent Bush decision to place a two-year hold on large-scale solar programs is a double-hit: they are encouraging non-renewable exploration (coal, off-shore drilling, tapping the Arctic Reserve, etc.) while hamstringing renewable development.
I swear, if I had to come up with a more insane scenario, I would be hard pressed!
A simple comparison, even a deep thought, between coal/oil/nuclear investment and renewable investment is foregone. This may seem crass, but:
How ON EARTH can proven renewables, through flawed policy, poor decisions and vested interests winning the day, be discounted, crippled and impeded, be passed over for non-renewable technologies that are proving to be DISASTEROUS to people, other species and the planet?
I may be an energy nerd, but of all the bad decisions that the Bush (and Reagan, and Clinton, …) administrations have made, this is perhaps the most far-reaching. The current administration has institutionalized a wreckless, dangerous and economically damaging path toward using more fossil fuels and ignoring a proven technology that, literally, will HELP the planet.
To Jesse - refer to your American Government or Civics class - the President can NOT enact a law - they start in Congress. Blaming the administration is just as absurd as the ruling.
Why don’t you take a look at this link on Snopes http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp. It compares Bush’s home to Al Gore’s. As it turns out Bush is much more environmentally conscious of his impact on natural resources than Gore.
So, before you blame anyone for anything, check out the facts first. The information from Kai is much more definitive.
My question to everyone is this - why can’t we do some drilling AND do the solar panels AND explore more alternative fuels to replace oil?
Claire,
a) Al Gore or President Bush’s homes have nothing to do with this. Red Herring’s aside…
b) Thanks, I’ve taken civics. And last I checked, the BLM is part of the executive branch. Executive branch agencies have the power to implement administrative rules that implement laws passed by the legislative branch (e.g. Congress). There’s considerable ambiguity in how to do that, which is why there IS an executive branch in the first place. Sure, Congress passed NEPA, but the BLM is (selectively!) deciding how and where to implement it.
c) Kai’s insight is great. I suspected some serious NIMBYism and knee-jerk enviro backlash was at play here too (just like at Cape Wind in Mass.). But this goes a lot farther than just this one San Diego case, or even this moratorium on solar. This is just more evidence of a systematic failure of US energy policy to prioritize efforts to develop new, clean and scalable energy alternatives — solar being just one of them.
d) As to why not drilling AND solar AND other alternatives, I’m not saying definitely that we shouldn’t drill anywhere. But let’s look at what are real solutions and what are quick fixes — or worse yet, just more of the same practices that got us into this mess. According to the US Energy Information Administration, a branch of the Department of Energy, drilling in ANWR, for example, would cut gas prices 1-3.5 cents/gallon at the pump … ten years from now once oil starts flowing. If we drill everywhere we can, maybe we’ll shave 10 cents of a gallon of gas in 2020. Great, I’ll take that to the bank…
WE CANNOT DRILL OUR WAY OUT OF THIS. Drilling for more oil is a quick hit of the old crack pipe and it’s not going to help us cure our oil addiction and secure a new era of economic prosperity.
Let’s be clear: cheap and abundant oil fueled the economic growth and prosperity of the 20th Century. But our continued dependence on this depleting and increasingly expensive fossil fuel is now imperiling our economy and our American way of life! It’s time to harness America’s vast reserves of untapped renewable energy and develop the clean, abundant and affordable energy sources that will power a new era of sustained American prosperity. It’s time for the new American energy sources of the 21st Century.
Mat -
As a fellow “energy nerd” I can understand the appeal of renewables and certainly can sympathize at a ridiculous situation. Still, renewables are not the entire answer, though they can be a large piece of the pie with better energy storage.
The Bureau of Land Management announced today they are reversing this decision - based on the massive public outcry…
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iExnDc6JtBahwnAVhIreGyjcjHOQD91LTEC80
Well, they arent blocking it everywhere!! Cant really say which company, but there is an engineering and consulting firm that has already been contracted to lets say start getting the ball rolling, Its definately going to take alot of time considering how many miles that are going to be tested for use. but dont be discouraged folks. Not everything that the media tells us is fully the truth. They should investigate a little deeper! oops guess I let the cat out of the bag!!!! Negativity breeds negativity. Keep positive thoughts and positive things will happen.
By the way, why do the only talk about global warming in the summer? What about in the winter when I have so much darn snow to shuvel.