The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is considering changes to a California desert plan that had set aside areas for renewable energy development. If these changes go through it would promote more wind and solar projects on federal lands.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it would consider amending the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan as part of a broader federal effort to unwind regulations that impede energy development. The process is also aimed at making more land available for wireless broadband infrastructure, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Katharine MacGregor said in the statement. We need to reduce burdens on all domestic energy development, including solar, wind and other renewables, she said.
The Bureau of Land Management is part of the Interior Department, which has made similar moves to open up more federal land and waters to oil and gas exploration. The plan was jointly hatched by California and the federal government in an eight-year process finalized in September 2016.