Obama Administration Will Develop Renewable Energy on Public Land
posted by: GinaMarie Cheeseman 329 days ago
During a recent speech, Obama spoke of the key role renewable energy will play in his economic recovery plan. He emphasized the need to "transform our economy…and save our planet from the ravages of climate change" by developing renewable energy. In March, the U.S. Interior Department secretary Ken Salazar, recently issued an order to create a special task force to encourage the development of renewable energy projects on federal lands.
The Departmental Task Force on Energy and Climate Change will identify solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy projects can be developed. The Interior Department will coordinate its efforts with the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Interior Department manages one-fifth of all U.S. land and over 1.7 billion offshore acres. The Department has identified 21 million acres of public land with the potential for wind energy projects in 11 Western states, 29 million acres for solar energy projects in six southwestern states, and 140 million acres of public land in western states and Alaska that have potential for geothermal projects. The National Renewable Energy Lab identified 1,000 gigawatts of wind energy potential off the Atlantic coast and over 900 megawatts off the Pacific coast.
"We will assign a high priority to identifying renewable energy zones and completing the permitting and appropriate environmental review of transmission rights-of-way applications that are necessary to deliver renewable energy generation to consumers," Salazar said. "We ought not to let the jurisdictional bureaucracy get in the way of the ultimate agenda. We need to get it done."
"Secretary Salazar has laid the foundation for our nation's entrepreneurs to harness the planet's wind, sun, heat, and other renewable energy sources in a manner that safeguards the wildlife and natural resources that help keep American communities healthy, safe, and prosperous," said Wilderness Society President Bill Meadows.
Read more: global warming
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In the 70's the Carter Administration studied how much electricity could be produced by retrofitting historic grist mills on streams and small rivers. In his book,"The Hydrogen Economy", Jeremy Rifkin theorized economies of scale could be established using Hydrogen as a storage system for energy produced by renewable methods. These two ideas are finally possible because we have an administration interested in supporting green technology, but President Obama needs successfull projects to continue the Green cause. Hydro power is the easiest and least expensive of all the renewable energy options to develop, when converted to hydrogen this energy can be stored and distributed anywhere on the planet, without transmission lines or miles of pipeline and with a zero carbon footprint. Let's help President Obama and ourselves, this is a unique time in American history and it won't last, we must succeed.
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We are lucky to have a president who does care about the US in many ways. We all need to stand up and support him, and also give ideas (positive ones) on how to solve all the problems our nation is in now.
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I hope to see more large scale geothermal power generation projects started and also hope to see tax incentives to build locally distributed geothermal heating/cooling systems. Go Obama ... change everything and leave the greedy, polluting oil companies out in the cold.
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Solar wind and tidal only generate power part of the time. Running water you can't stop and is what God blessed us with. The Mississippi could generate enough power for the whole country if turbines were installed every half mile of it's length using the same water over and over. There are thousands of rivers and streams the could be generating power. Instead we will piddle with wind and solar and continue burning coal till it kills the planet.
We need leadership to lead us away from the sins of energy that the big energy interests say there is no other way than theirs to generate power fuel our vehicles and take our money.
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Fools and idiots are the ones that are tasked to fix our energy problems. They look at everything taking ten to twenty years to do part of it. When it could be done starting now cheaper faster with a little common sense and action.
I have been trying to tell pres.bama he could get us off foreign oil using existing fuels and generate all of our electricity from running water that you can't stop and runs twenty four hours a day like the Mississippi.
You can't get through to him and the people underneath him are to dense to undersatnd how easy it is.
They would rather see us all suffer than do something that would be the best for the counry and the people.
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There is a terrific source of heat energy in the Yellowstone Park: geothermal.
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Go creation care enthusiasts go!
For more Christians caring about the environment: www.renewingcreation.org
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Dwight, I love your ideas. It is so wonderful to see a fellow Christian care about the environment!
I live in the San Joaquin Valley of California which is largely rural. In fact, it is considered to be the agricultural center of the world. It is also called the "Bible belt of the West." It is a sad fact that not enough Christians care about creation. I have heard the following line one too many times: Jesus is coming back soon and will create a new earth so it doesn't matter.
How do you get Christians to care about creation? I would really appreciate it if you could share your experiences and advice with me. You can contact me via my Care2 email: lilcheese71@care2.com.
Gina-Marie Cheeseman
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I am all in favor of using renewable energy sources, but those methods are not practical everywhere.
Where I live, rooftop-mounted solar panels are impractical, because we occasionally get severe hailstorms that would destroy those expensive solar panels.
Windmills require strong winds, so they are practical only where the winds are strong enough to drive them.
And what will happen to your neighbor's windmill when you experience a violent storm? These home-owned generators need proper maintenance.
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Why doesn’t the administration give an opportunity to a scientific organization that already has a plan in place that will CORRECT the problem at its root, like the folks at The Venus Project for example? Why are we waiting on the government to help anyway? There are more resources and brilliant scientifically sound minded people than there are politicians, and without the burden of vested interests in generating additional wealth for the few who have not been mindful enough to begin with.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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