Something happened Tuesday in the shape of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Reporter Dan Stork says that’s either a good thing or a bad thing for conservation, depending upon how the decision is interpreted…
“Stringent criticism of a draft of a 12,000-page plan that would manage renewable energy development on 22 million acres of the California desert has forced a drastic change in strategy for the agencies pushing the plan.” That’s how Joshua Tree resident and KCET environmental correspondent Chris Clarke started his Tuesday article about DRECP (full text at http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewire/government/drecp/desert-renewables-plan-coming-off-the-rails.html.) The “drastic change” is to stage implementation of the plan, with the BLM starting with a phase that concentrates on public lands. Plans for private lands to be given more time to develop, in a later phase that will concentrate on permitting procedures and endangered species considerations subject to review by state agencies. On the face of it, that might sound good to those who have opposed utility-scale renewable energy development, and favor rooftop solar. But Clarke’s article goes on to repeat fears by environmentalists about the BLM’s head start. He quotes a Sierra Club representative as worrying “the BLM could add more public lands to the Development Focus Areas and designate less for conservation.” For his part, 8th District Congressman Paul Cook welcomed the decision as a victory for calls for more local input.
