Sally Jewell: ‘Plenty of time’ for energy plan comment

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell had a message this week for critics of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan: Your input is valuable, but you don’t need more time to submit your comments. State and federal agencies have spent six years working on the plan that would lay the ground rules for the next quarter-century of solar, wind and geothermal development across 22.5 million acres of California desert. Jewell visited the Coachella Valley in September to announce the release of a 10,000-page draft that she called “a major milestone” in the state’s effort to fight climate change. State and federal officials have said the plan will speed up the permitting of renewable energy projects in the desert, while protecting threatened species and minimizing the environmental impacts of development. But criticism of the draft plan has been mounting, with renewable energy advocates and conservationists alike questioning whether it would accomplish either of those goals.Those frustrations boiled over last month, when a coalition of energy companies and environmental organizations criticized the plan’s “pervasive lack of clarity” and called for a significant overhaul. The groups also asked state and federal regulators to extend the draft document’s public comment period, writing that the plan’s “extremely complex framework and confusing organization” have made it “difficult to comprehend even the most basic information necessary to understand the draft plan."...more