© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Renewable Energy Leasing Rule Gives Long Overdue Certainty to Important N.M. Industry

Commentary:  Last week the Bureau of Land Management released a solar and wind energy leasing rule to codify policies for leasing public lands for the development of renewable energy. This is a development that anyone who is interested in building a renewable energy future should be cheering. 

The BLM’s new rule will provide a predictable process for the development of renewable energy on public lands, identify areas where development should occur and help expedite that development to the benefit of the economy, environment and local communities.

Equally important to outlining appropriate site rules for renewable energy development on public lands is the recognition that the renewable energy industry has become a cost competitive and clean alternative to mined resources like coal and oil on public lands.  Renewable energy can create the energy of the future without harm to the land, water, or the air. The Bureau of Land Management deserves tremendous credit for pursuing a forward-looking policy that can stimulate and grow the future energy economy for all Americans.

Such long-overdue improvements in the process for renewable energy development on public lands is an acknowledgement that renewables like solar and wind have become viable, reliable and cost-effective alternatives to coal and oil. This move will encourage more long-term thinking about renewable energy development which will, in turn, yield many benefits for the American people, including the following:

·         More renewable energy development on public lands will increase the pace at which renewable power can compete with and overtake the coal and oil industries. Generating more energy from more diverse sources in the U.S. reduces our need to import oil from abroad.

·         Increasing this development will diversify the rural economies of the west and New Mexico, as high-wage jobs in the solar and wind fields will allow for diversification of a rural New Mexico workforce that has been shackled to the booms and busts of oil and gas prices.

·         As more renewable energy is developed, so too will energy transmission infrastructure, helping our nation’s power grid become more dynamic and flexible in how it handles the nation’s day-to-day power needs.

·         Finally and perhaps most important, more renewable energy will reduce greenhouse gasses and help the United States fight climate change that has already contributed to catastrophic forest fires throughout the West, lighter snow packs in the mountains, and devastating droughts.

The Solar and Wind Rule shows the important progress the Obama administration has made on renewable energy. Through this new rule, the United States will continue to lead in responsible, renewable energy development that is growing our economy and combating climate change.