U.S. Interior Secretary Talks Clean Energy In Palm Springs

By Jason Sloss, News Channel 3 Reporterjsloss@kesq.comÂ@

PALM SPRINGS – The Coachella Valley stands as the epicenter of the nation’s potential for harnessing wind and solar energy. That’s according to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who arrived in Palm Springs Friday morning after flying from LAX, above the I-10 corridor to Blythe, getting a bird’s eye view of what he feels are promising areas for the future of renewable energy.

It’sa top priority for the White House, which is aiming for clean energy to provide 10% of the nation’s electricity by 2012 and 25% by 2025.

“Lands we saw today will be critically important to meeting these objectives. In my view, they are the point of the spear in making these goals a reality,” said Salazar.

Salazar says dozens of proposed wind and solar projects, mainly in the west, could be ready for construction by the end of next year, creating more than 48,000 so-called “green” jobs.

But the key is getting those projects approved.

Coordination offices have been set up to help speed up the processing of renewable energy applications. A new Bureau of Land Management building in Palm Springs is one of just four offices that will serve the entire U.S.

The others are in Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming.

Salazar says the screening process will be thorough, especially when dealing with sensitive desert resources that could be damaged by green projects.

“It’s important we do it in the right way. Doing it means you’re not going to do it everywhere,” said Secretary Salazar. “We’re not going to stand them up on national monuments or national parks.”

But he adds there’s no time to waste. That it’s time is for the U.S. to catch up with the rest of the world.

“You have Spain, Denmark, UK, China — all fast forward on these projects. There is no reason why the U.S.A. has to be second on this agenda.. and we won’t, we’re determined to be first.”