Markey on Interior Dept. Solar Plan: Let's Develop the World's Best Solar Resources

Statement

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, today praised the Interior Department's final Environmental Impact Statement for solar energy development on public lands across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The plan identifies 17 priority solar energy zones that are proximate to current and future transmission corridors and which could be developed with little interference to wildlife. The plan would cut the permitting time in half for solar projects developed within these priority zones, allowing an estimated 23,700 megawatts of total solar projects.

Below is the statement of Rep. Markey:

"If there was ever a summer when Americans realized the power of the sun, this is it. Instead of standing idly by as we sweat from climate change and Chinese solar competition, this solar plan will attack both issues head on.

"The Obama administration's All-of-the-Above energy plan took a giant leap forward today with the establishment of a solar energy development plan for the American Southwest. When the President was sworn in, hundreds of applications had been submitted to the Interior Department to build solar power plants but exactly zero had been approved. Today, 17 utility-scale solar projects have been approved that will produce 5,700 megawatts of energy."

"This announcement contrasts with the Oil Above All plan on display in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. This week, House Republicans are focused on ending support for renewable energy, preventing any and all regulations that protect the health and safety of the American people, and building on the 139 votes they've already cast on the House floor so far this Congress in support of the oil industry. The Obama administration's continued march forward on clean energy is even more important in the face of an obstructive Republican House of Representatives that has allowed zero votes in support of solar and wind this Congress."

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