Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed an order on Aug. 1 to rein in “environmentally damaging” wind and solar power projects and ensure that federal lands are used optimally for energy initiatives.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is legally required to ensure land use decisions are “judicious,” the agency said in an Aug. 1 statement. This requirement raises the question of whether allocating federal lands for wind and solar projects is permissible given their high land requirement and the blockage of other land uses, the agency said.
“One advanced nuclear plant … produces 33.17 megawatts (MW) per acre, while one offshore wind farm produces approximately 0.006 MW/acre, which is approximately 5,500 times less efficient than one nuclear plant,” DOI said….