NRDC supports new renewable energy development plan for Mojave Desert

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) this week commended the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (CRECP), which sets out the development of renewable energy infrastructure on public lands in California's Mojave Desert.

“The Department of Interior today took a big step forward for clean energy and conservation,” NRDC Western Renewable Energy Project Director Helen O’Shea said. “The administration is demonstrating that we can advance renewable energy development on our nation’s public lands, while at the same time protecting wildlands and wildlife.”

The plan allows for solar, wind and geothermal energy infrastructure and minimizes environmental impact through measures like landscape-level planning, low-conflict area development and coordinated transmission and generation.

The plan was developed with the Bureau of Land Management, the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“As California — and our nation — pursue more aggressive climate goals, it’s critical that we use all the tools at our disposal,” O’Shea said.  “This is an important piece of a comprehensive plan to fight climate change in California that includes energy efficiency, conservation, distributed generation, and modernizing our electric grid to handle more renewables at all scales.”