Salazar Talks Guns, Parks and Solar Power

In an interview last Friday with The New York Times, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar promised “aggressive” pursuit of renewable energy projects on public lands, but provided no firm date for his department’s highly anticipated decision on the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts. Mr. Salazar said that the department had received “about 200 applications” for solar power plants on lands belonging to the Bureau of Land Management, and about 20 applications for on-shore wind energy projects on B.L.M. lands. But as Mr. Salazar moves forward with his priorities of promoting renewable energy and transmission on public lands, he is already encountering some obstacles. Asked whether there might be challenges to laying transmission lines across sovereign Indian lands, Mr. Salazar said it was “definitely a reality that has to be dealt with, and it can either be seen as a conflict or it can be seen as an opportunity.” Mr. Salazar said that his agency was also looking into the possibility of carbon capture and storage on public lands, and noted that the United States Geological Survey had just published a methodology that would help assess what lands — including public lands — were most appropriate for the technology. On allowing concealed weapons into national parks — a controversial policy that the Bush administration adopted but that a federal judge suspended last week — Mr. Salazar said that he was still reviewing the judge’s decision. From a personal standpoint, “I am a defender of the Second Amendment,” he said. “I grew up with a gun next to my bed because I lived so far away from where there were any cities or any lights.” He added that in making a decision he would balance “protecting the public safety and at the same time honoring the Second Amendment.”...NY Times