Energy News from The Wilderness Society

Will solar energy prove a win-win for wildlands?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:34:51 +0000

Unlike conventional energy production, we don't have to raze mountaintops or drill into our national wildlife refuges to access energy provided by the sun. Huge swaths of the Southwest receive enough sun to power utility-scale solar energy projects. Not only does solar energy not run out: it also runs wide.

In fact, in the Southwestern United States alone, the sun provides enough energy to power our country 6 times over!

Controversial Utah oil and gas leases are flawed

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:48:21 +0000

Utah's treasured public lands got a reprieve June 11 when the Department of the Interior released a report confirming that the process used for the December 2009 sale of 77 Utah oil and gas leases was flawed.

Administration should proceed carefully on Outer Continental Shelf drilling

Tue, 19 May 2009 20:42:09 +0000

On April 17, a federal court ruling vacated a Bush-era 5-year drilling plan for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

The court ruling came shortly after a decision by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to put the brakes on another 5-year offshore drilling program that had been pushed through in the final days of the Bush administration.

Renewable energy belongs best on brownfields

Tue, 12 May 2009 21:13:55 +0000

One of the most exciting things about working on renewable energy issues in a land conservation organization is that every day we wade deep into the policies that will impact our public lands for decades to come. Our energy team works hard to support the nation’s shift to clean, renewable energy. At the same time, it’s important to us that the impacts of solar, wind, and geothermal facilities on our precious landscapes are kept to a minimum.