Obama's 2012 Goal for Renewable Energy on Public Lands Met

According to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the Interior Department has now met President Barack Obama's goal of authorizing 10,000 megawatts of renewable power on public lands. The goal was met with the approval this week of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project site as a suitable spot for wind energy development, the Department of the Interior announced in a press release on Tuesday.

* "When President Obama took office," Salazar stated, "he made expanding production of American made energy a priority, including making our nation a world leader in harnessing renewable energy."

* Obama challenged the department in his State of the Union address to authorize 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy on public lands by year's end, Salazar stated, "and today we are making good on that promise."

* According to the department, the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre project is a proposed complex that has the potential to generate up to 3,000 megawatts of power -- enough to power nearly 1 million homes -- in southeastern Wyoming.

* The project will consist of two sites encompassing up to 1,000 wind turbines, the Interior Department reported. Located on approximately 219,707 acres about 10 miles south of Rawlins, in Carbon County, it will be developed in phases.

* With today's decision on the project, the Interior Department explained, the BLM is authorized to proceed with site specific environmental analysis for the Sierra Madre Wind Farm, the Chokecherry Wind Farm, an internal haul road, an internal 230 kilovolt transmission line, a rail distribution facility and substations to connect the power to the grid.

* With a special use permit from the Carbon County Commissioners received last week, the developer will now work with the BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to design an Avian Protection Plan and an Eagle Conservation Plan in order to protect area avian and bat species.

* Permits will be provided phase-by-phase, the department reported, and will be contingent on the provision and implementation of wildlife protection measures.

* Project developers anticipate the creation of about 1,000 construction, operation and maintenance jobs with the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre project.

* The project could generate between $291 and $437 million in annual property taxes along with about $232 million in sales and use taxes to Carbon County over 20 years, and another $149 million to the state of Wyoming, according to the Power Company of Wyoming.

* Since Obama became president, the Department of the Interior reports that it has authorized 33 renewable energy projects on public lands, including 18 utility-scale solar facilities, seven wind farms and eight geothermal plants. Energy from renewable sources has doubled since the president took office, the department stated.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-2012-goal-renewable-energy-public-lands-met-203600617.html

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