Green Options

In a plan released on Tuesday, federal agencies will work with western leaders to designate tracts of U.S. public lands in the West as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy development, fund environmental studies, open new solar energy permitting offices and speed reviews of industry proposals.

Bush-era plan to expand offshore drilling in sensitive areas in Alaska was rejected today by a federal appeals court.

The US Department of the Interior reports that they will start spending the stimulus money granted them in February, and among the $140 million-worth of projects is $15.2 million for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s favorite activity: volcano monitoring!

In response to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s recent comments that the offshore wind energy resource in the U.S. could potentially provide 25% of our electricity and replace the need for coal-fired power plants, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal balked, telling reporters: “Ain’t going to happen.”

According to a new report released by the Interior Department, shallow-water offshore wind farms could supply as much as 20% of the electricity in most coastal states. The report, released last week by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, said that the greatest offshore wind energy potential in the U.S. lies off the Atlantic Coast.

Shell Oil’s plan to acquire a junior water right for eight percent of Colorado’s Yampa River average April-to-June flow for oil shale development has been opposed by some twenty-five parties, all submitting letters of opposition to the Colorado Water Court in Steamboat Springs.

Did you know that the Rocky Mountains contain more oil than Saudi Arabia? Most people don’t. The problem is that, unlike the easily accessed and processed oceans of liquid oil under Middle Eastern sands, the Rocky Mountains’ petroleum is found in rocks called oil shale. Oil shale, which must be mined, is a type of sedimentary rock that releases oil when heated in specific types of chemical processes. The problem, according to environmental groups, is that producing energy from oil [...]

Late in the Bush administration, the president lifted an executive order banning offshore drilling. A few months later, facing skyrocketing gas prices, Congress allowed a congressional moratorium, dating back to 1982, to lapse. Offshore drilling has been blatantly polarizing national politics ever since.

Department of Interior cancels Bush controversial administration oil & gas exploration leases in Utah. Much of the land was adjacent to treasured Utah national parks and monuments.

Closed to visitors since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, The Statue of Liberty’s crown may be reopening if the new Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, has anything to say about it.

A vocal opponent of the Bush administration’s push for oil shale development, Salazar, a former water lawyer spoke of the tremendous water and energy requirements to develop oil shale using current best practices.