"Public Lands: Interior Proposal Throws Doubt On Calif. Renewable Zone"

"The Interior Department is exploring making wholesale changes to a massive California desert renewable energy zone that could lead to opening environmentally sensitive areas designated for conservation to possible commercial-scale wind, solar and geothermal power projects.

The goal is to allow more of the 10.8 million acres of federal lands within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) zone to host large-scale renewables development, in accordance with President Trump's call to remove regulatory "burdens" that hamper increased domestic energy production.

Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the federal lands within the DRECP, said in a press statement today that the move would help California meet a state law requiring publicly owned utilities and retail sellers to obtain 50 percent of their energy from renewable energy sources by 2030."

Scott Streater reports for Greenwire February 1, 2018.