DOI Response to Economic Recession

http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/041009a.html

From the Department of Interior:

April 10, 2009

Secretary Salazar Announces Department of Interior Economic Stimulus Projects: USGS Investments Underscore Commitment to “Best Science”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the Department of the Interior’s first projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – $140 million that will fund 308 U.S. Geological Survey projects across the 50 states. The USGS, the leading science research bureau in the federal government, supports the science needs of all the other bureaus of the Department of the Interior and other departments of the U.S. government. The USGS will play a critical role in addressing the nation’s energy and climate change challenges.

Overall, the Department of the Interior will manage $3.0 billion in investments as part of the recovery plan signed by the President to jumpstart our economy, create or save jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st Century.

“These USGS projects not only stimulate job creation and preservation, but they stimulate the scientific research that must underpin the decisions we make on behalf of the American people as the stewards of the nation’s natural resources,” Secretary Salazar said in a teleconference today. “As America’s leading earth science agency, USGS is central to helping us meet the imperatives of the nation’s energy and climate change challenges.”

Among the programs funded through the Department’s ARRA investments, USGS will dedicate $15.2 million to volcano monitoring and $14.6 million to streamgage upgrades, support that will further the agency’s recent efforts to protect life and property in places such as Alaska and North Dakota.

The $140 million announced today for USGS will fund repair, construction and restoration of facilities; equipment replacement and upgrades; national map activities; and critical deferred maintenance and improvement projects. Specific investments include:

• Volcano Monitoring - $15.2 million to modernize equipment in the National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) at all USGS volcano observatories. The U.S. and its territories include some of the most volcanically-active regions in the world, with 169 active volcanoes. As many as 54 of these potentially dangerous volcanoes need improved monitoring.
• Upgrades to streamgages used in flood monitoring - $14.6 million to upgrade to high-data radio (HDR) technology and upgrade streamgages with new technologies for streamflow measurement. All 7,500 streamgages will be upgraded by 2012.
• Water Program Deferred Maintenance – $14.6 million for remediation to remove streamgages, cableways, and ground-water wells that are no longer in use, making these sites safer for public enjoyment and support local economies.
• Deferred Maintenance of Facilities - $29.4 million for projects that address health and safety issues; functional needs such as improved laboratory space; make facilities more energy efficient, and incorporate sustainable design criteria in project implementation.
• Earthquake Monitoring - $29.4 million to modernize the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) by doubling the number of ANSS-quality stations and upgrading seismic networks nationwide, to bring the total from approximately 800 to 1600. These improved networks will deliver faster, more reliable and more accurate information – helping to save lives by providing better situational awareness in the wake of the damaging earthquakes that can strike this nation at any time.
• Construction - $17.8 million for research facilities at Patuxent Wildlife Refuge Research Center in Patuxent, MD; the Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) in Columbia, MO; and the Upper Midwest Environmental Services Center (UMESC) in LaCrosse, WI. Work at these centers will improve the ability of scientists to conduct innovative research on contaminants and wildlife, endangered species, wind power and wildlife, adaptive management, wildlife disease and much more. The rehabilitation of these facilities will support jobs for the local community, improve functionality, and reduce long-term operating costs.
• Imagery and Elevation Maps - $14.6 million to improve mapping data, which will then be made available for multiple uses including flood mapping, emergency operations, and natural resource management.
• Data Preservation - $488,000 to the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) to digitize, and make available to the public via the Internet, the historical banding recovery and bird banding records. Bird banding data have a wide variety of uses including applications for disease research.

“President Obama and this Department have ambitious goals to build America’s new energy future, protect and restore our treasured landscapes, and create a 21st Century Youth Conservation Corps,” added Salazar. “These USGS projects and the science that guides them will help us fulfill these goals while helping American families and their communities prosper.”

The USGS projects were selected in a rigorous merit-based process based on the longstanding priorities of the agency, as will all projects included in the Department’s Recovery Act funding.

Noting that he is visiting Alaska next week, Salazar emphasized the critical nature of USGS’ work in emergencies. “Their monitoring of Redoubt, which has erupted several times, alerted people in the pathway of the volcano to take precautions ahead of time. Protecting public safety is invaluable.”

The five USGS Volcano Observatories have been allotted $15.2 million to modernize monitoring networks and warning systems. Many of the dangerous volcanoes in the United States may not be monitored well enough for scientists to warn the public of explosive eruptions, alert aircraft of ash clouds or warn communities of ash falls and lava and mud flows. The importance of these observatories was evident during the recent Mar. 22 eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano, 106 miles southwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Volcano Observatory started issuing warnings of an impending eruption starting Jan. 23 after recording increased seismic activity at the volcano, giving communities and businesses time to prepare. The observatory’s top priority is to prevent repetition of the incident that occurred during Redoubt’s eruption 19 years ago, when a Boeing 747 passenger aircraft strayed into an ash cloud and nearly crashed. Stimulus funds will improve AVO’s preparedness and vigilance, both at Redoubt and at other similar volcanoes in Alaska.

With respect to the funds for streamflow and flood monitoring projects, USGS has a network of 7,500 streamgages, most of which run on solar power. The streamgages feature radios transmitters that send data to satellites. Because of advances in satellite communication technology, these radios will be obsolete in 2013. The stimulus funds will enable USGS to upgrade streamgages with new radio transmitters that will reduce transmission time and make data available to the public hourly, an improvement from the current wait of 3-4 hours.

“This type of technology was pivotal to addressing the flooding hazards that recently threatened North Dakota,” added Salazar. “Stream flow monitoring is critically important to our understanding of the effects of climate change on water availability in some regions of the nation, and accurate long-term streamflow information is necessary to determine how water managers can respond and adapt to these changes.”

Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Department of the Interior’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on www.recovery.gov and on www.interior.gov/recovery. Secretary Salazar has appointed a Senior Advisor for Economic Recovery, Chris Henderson, and an Interior Economic Recovery Task Force. Henderson and the Task Force will work closely with the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General to ensure that the recovery program is meeting the high standards for accountability, responsibility, and transparency that President Obama has set.

Salazar Pushes Offshore Wind Development

From the Department of the Interior:

April 2, 2009

Secretary Salazar: U.S. Offshore Wind Resources Could Lead America’s Clean-Energy Revolution

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. offshore areas hold enormous potential for wind energy development near the nation’s highest areas of electricity demand – coastal metropolitan centers, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today. 

“More than three-fourths of the nation’s electricity demand comes from coastal states and 
the wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states actually exceeds our entire U.S. electricity demand,” Salazar told a summit meeting of 25X’25 America’s Energy Future, a group working to lower America’s carbon emissions.

Citing major findings of a report he commissioned from Interior scientists, Salazar also said the Outer Continental Shelf energy resources report found huge information gaps about the location and extent of offshore oil and gas resources. 

“Along the Atlantic Coast, for example, the seismic data we have is twenty-five years old,” Salazar said. “How should we gather the information we currently lack about our offshore oil and gas resources?  How do we manage the costs of gathering seismic data?  Are there areas on the OCS that should be of priority for information collection?”
 
Salazar said information from the U.S. Geological Survey-Minerals Management Service Report will be a starting point for public comment meetings around the country in the next few weeks, starting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and New Orleans, Louisiana, next week.   The Executive Summary is online at http://www.doi.gov/ocs.

“Yes, we can build a clean energy future,” Salazar told the summit, “but it will require American energy, American ingenuity and American courage to tackle our dependence on foreign oil and the growing perils of climate change.”

“The realities of climate change are upon us,” Salazar said. “For too long we have ignored the true costs of our energy use. Building America’s clean energy future is front and center on President Obama’s agenda.  He knows that if we are turn our economy around; that if we are to lead the next great technological transformation in our world; and that if we are to create millions of new clean-energy jobs here at home, we must finally take the moon-shot on energy independence.”

Oil, gas, and coal will be part of that plan, but they alone are not enough, Salazar said, noting that the United States must import almost two-thirds of its oil and most of that goes to the transportation sector. “America’s own oil and natural gas supplies are limited,” the Secretary noted. “We sit on 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves.  We consume 25 percent of its oil.  Our dependence on foreign oil is a national security problem, an environmental security problem, and an economic security problem.”

Interior, which managers of one-fifth of the nation’s land mass and 1.7 billion acres of ocean off the U.S. coasts, will have a major role in creating the nation’s clean-energy future, Salazar said. The Department’s Bureau of Land Management has identified about 20.6 million acres of public land with wind energy potential in the 11 western states and 29.5 million acres with solar energy potential in the six southwestern states.  There are also over 140 million acres of public land in the western states and Alaska with geothermal resource potential.

There is also significant wind and wave potential in U.S. offshore waters.  The National Renewable Energy Lab has identified more than 1,000 gigawatts of wind potential off the Atlantic coast, and more than 900 gigawatts of wind potential off the Pacific Coast.  The Lab estimates that the class 5 wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states exceeds the entire U.S. electricity demand.  Currently, there are more than 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind projects proposed in the United States. 

“We are opening our doors not just to oil and gas and coal, but also to the wise development of solar, wind and wave, biofuels, geothermal, and small hydro on America’s lands,” Salazar said.

Video, audio and text of the Secretary’s remarks as well as more information on Interior’s  Outer Continental Shelf responsibilities are online at http://www.doi.gov/ocs.

Obama's Remarks on the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009

Well, thank you so much, Ken, for that extraordinary introduction and for the work that you and your team are undertaking at the Department of the Interior. We're going to add a little bit to your plate today as a consequence of this extraordinary piece of legislation.

I want to thank all the members of the legislature who helped to craft this. Many of them are on the stage here today. Obviously I've got to single out the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for her extraordinary leadership, but also our Leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, who worked so diligently on this bill and made sure that it got done. And so please give all of these legislators a big round of applause. (Applause.)

If you'll indulge me, there are just a couple other people I want to acknowledge: Nancy Sutley, who is the Chair of our Council on Environmental Quality, who is here. Where's Nancy? There she is, right in front. (Applause.) Jane Lubchenco, who is the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Please, Jane -- (applause.) A couple of great friends from Indian Nation -- President Joe Shirley of Navaho Nation, who is here. Go ahead, Joe, stand up. (Applause.) And Tribal Chairman Robert Bear, of the Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. Thank you so much. (Applause.)

It is fitting that we meet on a day like this. Winter's hardships are slowly giving way to spring, and our thoughts naturally tend to turn to the outdoors. We emerge from the shelter offered by home and work, and we look around and we're reminded that the most valuable things in this life are those things that we already possess.

As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent. Our lands have always provided great bounty -- food and shelter for the first Americans, for settlers and pioneers; the raw materials that grew our industry; the energy that powers our economy.

What these gifts require in return is our wise and responsible stewardship. As our greatest conservationist President, Teddy Roosevelt, put it almost a century ago, "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."

That's the spirit behind the bipartisan legislation I'm signing today -- legislation among the most important in decades to protect, preserve, and pass down our nation's most treasured landscapes to future generations.

Many senators and congressmen here deserve enormous credit for making this bill possible. I'm grateful to all their hard work. As I mentioned before, Harry Reid made this a top priority. He made sure this was the first bill the Senate passed this year. This day would not be possible without his tireless dedication to protecting our treasured lands.

This legislation -- just to give you a sense of the scope -- this legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That's something all Americans can support.

And that's why so much of this legislation, some of it decades in the making, has the backing of Americans from every walk of life and corner of this country. Ranchers and fishermen, small business owners, environmentalists, conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats on the local, state and federal levels -- all united around the idea that there should be places that we must preserve; all doing the hard work of seeking common ground to protect the parks and other places that we cherish.

We're talking about places like Colorado, where this bill will realize a vision 35 years in the making by protecting the wild back country of Rocky Mountain National Park, which attracts 3 million visitors a year.

Folks in communities around this park know they don't have to choose between economic and environmental concerns; the tourism that drives their local economy depends on good stewardship of their local environment. And year after year, these communities have worked together with members of Congress in an attempt to ensure that Rocky Mountain National Park will forever remain as breathtaking as it is today.

And that is what this bill does from coast to coast. It protects treasured places from the Appalachians of Virginia and West Virginia to Michigan's Upper Peninsula; from the canyons of Idaho to the sandstone cliffs of Utah; from the Sierra Nevadas in California to the Badlands of Oregon.

It designates more than 2 million acres across nine states as wilderness; almost as much as was designated over the past eight years combined.

It creates thousands of miles of new scenic, historic, and recreational trails, cares for our historic battlefields, strengthens our National Park System.

It safeguards more than 1,000 miles of our rivers, protects watersheds and cleans up polluted groundwater, defends our oceans and Great Lakes, and will revitalize our fisheries, returning fish to rivers that have not seen them in decades.

And it wisely faces our future challenges with regard to water. This bill assesses how growth and climate change will affect our access to water resources, especially in the West and Southwest, and it includes solutions to complex and long-simmering water disputes. It's hard to overstate the real and measurable impact this will have on people's lives -- people like Frank Chee Willetto, a Navajo code talker in World War II, who's joined us today. And because of this legislation, Frank, along with 80,000 others in the Navajo Nation, will have access to clean running water for the very first time. That's something worth applauding. (Applause.) Thank you for your service. (Applause.)

When coupled with the Recovery Act, which makes an historic $3 billion investment creating jobs that will restore and protect our landscapes and our ecosystems, preserve our national monuments, retrofit our facilities for energy efficiency and renewable energy-- taken together, today's legislation takes another step toward fulfilling Teddy Roosevelt's vision for this land that we love.

It's a vision that sees America's great wilderness as a place where what was and what is and what will be -- all are the same; a place where memories are lived and relived; a place where Americans both young and young at heart can freely experience the spirit of adventure that has always been at the heart of the rugged character of America.

Now, the legislation I'm signing today also makes progress on another front for which many Americans have long waited.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve's Paralysis Act is the first piece of comprehensive legislation specifically aimed at addressing the challenges faced by Americans living with paralysis. (Applause.) Many folks and organizations from across the disability community worked hard to get this bill passed, and we are grateful to each of you for bringing us that much closer to providing all Americans with disabilities a full, fair and equal opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

This act creates new coordinated research activities through the National Institutes of Health that will connect the best minds and best practices from the best labs in the country, and focus their endeavors through collaborative scientific research into the cure for paralysis, saving effort, money, and, most importantly, time.

It promotes enhanced rehabilitation services for paralyzed Americans, helping develop better equipment and technology that will allow them to live full and independent lives free from unnecessary barriers. And it will work to improve the quality of life for all those who live with paralysis, no matter what the cause.

That's the mission of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. In the lobby of their facility in New Jersey sits Christopher's empty wheelchair. And his son, Matthew Reeve, was once asked if the sight of it ever saddened him, and he replied no. He said, "Empty chairs -- that was Dad's goal," he said. "We hope there will be many more of them."

Matthew is here with us today. And the legislation I'm about to sign makes solid progress toward the realization of that hope and the promise of a brighter future.

All in all, this legislation is that rare end product of what happens when Americans of all parties and places come together in common purpose to consider something more than the politics of the moment. It's the very idea at the heart of this country: that each generation has a responsibility to secure this nation's promise for the next. And by signing this bill into law, that's what we're doing today.

So -- is Matthew here, by the way? Matthew, come on up. (Applause.) Let's sign this bill. (Applause.)

Salazar's Speech on America's Energy Future

http://www.doi.gov/secretary/speeches/031709_statement.html

From the Department of the Interior:

Statement of Ken Salazar, 
Secretary of The Interior, 
before The Energy And Natural Resources
On Energy Development On The Public Lands 
And Outer Continental Shelf
MARCH 17, 2009

Thank you, Chairman Bingaman, Senator Murkowski, and Members of the Committee, for giving me the opportunity to come before you today to discuss energy development on public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) under the Department of the Interior’s jurisdiction.  This is my first hearing before you since my confirmation as Secretary of the Interior and it is an honor to be here.

President Obama has pledged to work with you to develop a new energy strategy for the country.  His New Energy for America plan will create a clean energy-based economy that promotes investment and innovation here at home, generating millions of new jobs.  It will ensure energy security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, increasing efficiency, and making responsible use of our domestic resources.  Finally, it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

During his visit to the Department for our 160th anniversary celebration two weeks ago, the President spoke about the Department’s major role in helping to create this new, secure, reliable and clean energy future.  The vast landholdings and management jurisdiction of the Department’s bureaus, encompassing 20 percent of the land mass of the United States and 1.7 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, are key to realizing this vision through the responsible development of these resources. 

These lands have some of the highest renewable energy potential in the nation.  The Bureau of Land Management has identified a total of approximately 20.6 million acres of public land with wind energy potential in the 11 western states and approximately 29.5 million acres with solar energy potential in the six southwestern states.  There are also over 140 million acres of public land in western states and Alaska with geothermal resource potential.

There is also significant wind and wave potential in our offshore waters.  The National Renewable Energy Lab has identified more than 1,000 gigawatts of wind potential off the Atlantic coast, and more than 900 gigawatts of wind potential off the Pacific Coast. 

Renewable energy companies are looking to partner with the government to develop this renewable energy potential.  We should responsibly facilitate this development.   Unfortunately, today, in BLM southwestern states, there is a backlog of over 200 solar energy applications.  In addition, there are some 20 proposed wind development projects on BLM lands in the west.  These projects would create engineering and construction jobs.  
To help focus the Department of the Interior on the importance of renewable energy development, last Wednesday, March 11, I issued my first Secretarial Order.  The order makes facilitating the production, development, and delivery of renewable energy top priorities for the Department.  Of course, this would be accomplished in ways that also project our natural heritage, wildlife, and land and water resources.

The order also establishes an energy and climate change task force within the Department, drawing from the leadership of each of the bureaus.  The task force will be responsible for, among other things, quantifying the potential contributions of renewable energy resources on our public lands and the OCS and identifying and prioritizing specific “zones” on our public lands where the Department can facilitate a rapid and responsible move to significantly increased production of renewable energy from solar, wind, geothermal, incremental or small hydroelectric power on existing structures, and biomass sources.  The task force will prioritize the permitting and appropriate environmental review of transmission rights-of-way applications that are necessary to deliver renewable energy generation to consumers, and will work to resolve obstacles to renewable energy permitting, siting, development, and production without compromising environmental values. 

Accomplishing these goals may require new policies or practices or the revision of existing policies or practices, including possible revision of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements (PEISs) for wind and geothermal energy development and the West-Wide Corridors PEIS that BLM has completed, as well as their Records of Decision.  The Department of Interior will work with relevant agencies to explore these options.

We will also, as I have said before, finalize the regulations for offshore renewable development authorized by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which gave the Secretary of the Interior authority to provide access to the OCS for alternative energy and alternate use projects.  This rulemaking was proposed but never finalized by the previous Administration.

For these renewable energy zones to succeed, we will need to work closely with other agencies, states, Tribes and interested communities to determine what electric transmission infrastructure and transmission corridors are needed and appropriate to deliver these renewable resources to major population centers.  We must, in effect, create a national electrical superhighway system to move these resources from the places they are generated to where they are consumed.   We will assign a high priority to completing the permitting and appropriate environmental review of transmission rights-of-way applications that are necessary to accomplish this task.

Developing these renewable resources requires a balanced and mindful approach that addresses the impacts of development on wildlife, water resources and other interests under the Department’s management jurisdiction.  I recognize this responsibility, and it is not a charge I take lightly. 

At the same time, we must recognize that we will likely be dependent on conventional sources – oil, gas, and coal – for a significant portion of our energy for .many years to come.  Therefore it is important that the Department continue to responsibly develop these energy resources on public lands. 

In the past 7 weeks, the Department has held seven major oil and gas lease sales onshore, netting more than $33 million for taxpayers.  And tomorrow I will be in New Orleans for a lease sale covering approximately 34.6 million offshore acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico.  This sale includes 4.2 million acres in the 181 South Area, opened as a result of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.  Continuing to develop these assets, through an orderly process and based on sound science, adds important resources to our domestic energy production.

Based on this approach, I announced last week that I would be hosting four regional public meetings next month in order to gather a broad range of viewpoints from all parties interested in energy development on the OCS.  In addition, I directed the Minerals Management Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to assemble a report on our offshore oil and gas resources and the potential for renewable energy resources, including wind, wave, and tidal energy.  The results of that report will be presented and discussed with the public.

The meetings will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, New Orleans, Louisiana, Anchorage, Alaska, and San Francisco, California, during the first two weeks in April.  These meetings are an integral part of our strategy for developing a new, comprehensive, and environmentally appropriate energy development plan for the OCS.  I have also extended the comment period on the previous Administration’s proposed 5-year Plan for development by 180 days.  We will use the information gathered at these regional meetings to help us develop the new 5 year plan on energy development on the OCS.

Similarly, again based on sound science, policy and public input, we will move forward with a second round of research, development, and demonstration leases for oil shale in Colorado and Utah.  While we need to move aggressively with these technologies, these leases will help answer the critical questions about oil shale, including about the viability of emerging technologies on a commercial scale, how much water and power would be required, and what impact commercial development would have on land, water, wildlife,  communities and on addressing global climate change.

We are also proceeding with development onshore, where appropriate, on our public lands.  As I noted above, the responsible development of our oil, gas and coal resources help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but this development must be done in a thoughtful and balanced way, and in a way that allows us to protect our signature landscapes, natural resources, wildlife, and cultural resources.

We also need to ensure that this development results in a fair return to the public that owns these federal minerals.  That’s why the President’s 2010 Budget includes several proposals to improve this return by closing loopholes, charging appropriate fees, and reforming how royalties are set.  Of course, I’ll be happy to discuss these in more detail after the Administration’s full budget request is released in the coming weeks.
 
Implementation of the President’s energy plan will ultimately focus the nation on development of a new green economy and move us toward energy independence, and I and my team are working hard to put that plan into place. 

Mr. Chairman, I know you and the Committee, along with the Majority Leader and others in Congress, are working hard on these issues.  I believe we are being presented today with an historic opportunity to enhance our economy, our environment, and our national security.  Too much is at stake for us to miss this opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee.  I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Salazar Reforms Oil and Gas Lease Sales

http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/031609.html

From the Department of the Interior:

March 16, 2009

Secretary Salazar Announces 2009 Oil and Gas Lease Sale Schedule

Stresses Balance of Traditional and Renewable Energy Resource Development on U.S. Public Lands

DENVER, CO – The Department of the Interior will hold more than 40 major lease sales for oil and natural gas development on public lands this year, which are predicted to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for American taxpayers as well as billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to help meet the nation’s energy needs, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today.

Salazar is also establishing the development of renewable and alternative energy sources on U.S. public lands as a Departmental priority and as a component of a comprehensive national energy strategy that will help the U.S. reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

“Oil, natural gas, and coal will play an important role in meeting our nation’s energy needs for many years to come,” Salazar said during a teleconference call with reporters from round the country. “But our long-term economic, environmental, and national security depends on our ability to lead the clean energy revolution. Our traditional energy resources are a bridge to our clean-energy economy of the future.”

Salazar will outline Interior’s plan to help responsibly develop America’s renewable and conventional energy resources in testimony to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday.

The Secretary noted that the Bureau of Land Management has already held seven onshore oil and gas lease sales in the last seven weeks, offering 830 leases that cover almost 1.2 million acres in the West. And 326 of those leases, totaling 254,000 acres, were sold, generating more than $32 million in revenues for the American taxpayers. BLM will hold an additional 32 oil and gas lease sales for onshore public lands around the country this year.

Salazar said he would be joining a Minerals Management Service lease sale on Wednesday that could produce up to a billion barrels of oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas -- a full year’s supply of natural gas for America’s homes. That Sale 208 will offer 6,458 blocks on the Outer Continental Shelf, covering 35 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. This is the first of two Gulf of Mexico lease sales scheduled this year.

Wednesday’s sale includes the “181 South Area” and revenue from these leases will be included in immediate revenue-sharing with the four Gulf-producing States of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The “181” area was opened for leasing in the Energy Security Act of 2006, which Salazar helped craft.

“I am particularly proud that thanks to a provision I authored in that legislation, 12.5 percent of the revenues will go directly to the Land and Water Conservation Fund stateside grant program to protect open space and build parks,” Salazar said. “It is America’s first permanent conservation royalty of its kind, and I look forward to talking more about it and President Obama’s vision for LWCF during my visit to the Gulf Coast.”

Emphasizing the need for clean-energy initiatives to balance our resource use, Salazar’s first Secretarial Order, issued last week, prioritized renewable energy development on U.S. public lands. “Through that order, I have established a task force to help identify renewable energy zones on public lands that are best suited for harnessing wind, solar, and geothermal power,” Salazar said. “The task force will also help us get moving toward siting and building the national electric superhighway system that President Obama has established as a priority for the country.”

Salazar also noted that the U. S. Geological Survey is releasing a report on carbon capture and sequestration that can help identify the best geologic formations in the country for carbon sequestration. “Rather than emit carbon into the air, our country can and should move toward capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground,” Salazar noted. USGS was directed to do the study by a legislative provision Salazar wrote in 2007.

On Thursday, Salazar also will meet with the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute, including the CEO’s of America’s largest oil companies. “My message to them will be simple: they are, and will remain, an important part of our energy future. We need to work together on common sense solutions to the energy challenges we face. We share much common ground. We need an open and honest dialogue. And we need to move forward, with common purpose, to build a comprehensive energy plan for America.”

The Bureau of Land Management 2009 schedule of oil and gas lease sales is online at 
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/lease_sales.html

Salazar Pushes Renewable Energy

http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/031109c.html

From the Department of the Interior:

March 11, 2009

Secretary Salazar Issues Order to Spur Renewable Energy Development on U.S. Public Lands

Energy Zones a Key to New Initiative

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing the critical need to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, build a clean energy economy and create new jobs, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today issued a Secretarial Order making the production, development, and delivery of renewable energy top priorities for the Department.

“More so than ever, with job losses continuing to mount, we need to steer the country onto a new energy path,” Salazar said. “One that creates new jobs and puts America out front in new, growing industries, one that promotes investment and innovation here at home and one that makes wise use of our domestic resources.”

In addition to making renewable energy production a top priority for the Department, Salazar’s Secretarial order establishes an energy and climate change task force that will spur this agenda and identify specific zones on U.S. public lands where Interior can facilitate a rapid and responsible move to large-scale production of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy.

For these renewable energy zones to succeed, Salazar pointed out, Interior will need to work closely with other federal agencies, states and American Indian tribes to determine what electric transmission infrastructure and transmission corridors are needed to deliver these renewable resources to major population centers.

“We will assign a high priority to identifying renewable energy zones and completing the permitting and appropriate environmental review of transmission rights-of-way applications that are necessary to deliver renewable energy generation to consumers,” Salazar said. “We have to connect the sun of the deserts and the wind of the plains with the places where people live.”

Interior manages one fifth of the country’s landmass, over 1.7 billion offshore acres, and lands with some of the highest renewable energy potential in the nation. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has identified about 21 million acres of public land with wind energy potential in the 11 western states and about 29 million acres with solar energy potential in the six southwestern states. There are also 140 million acres of public land in western states and Alaska that have geothermal resource potential.

In addition, there is significant wind and wave energy potential offshore. The National Renewable Energy Lab has identified more than 1,000 gigawatts of wind potential off the Atlantic coast, and more than 900 gigawatts of wind potential off our Pacific Coast.

The task force will prioritize the permitting and appropriate environmental review of transmission rights-of-way applications that are necessary to deliver renewable energy generation to consumers. The task force will work to resolve obstacles to renewable energy permitting, siting, development, and production.

To help accomplish these goals, Interior may need to revise existing policies or create new policies, Salazar said, citing as examples the Geothermal, Wind, and West-Wide Corridors Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements and their respective Records of Decisions. Interior will also finalize a regulation for offshore renewable development.

Salazar explained that the Department of the Interior will continue to responsibly develop oil and gas resources on public lands. “In the last six weeks we have had five major oil and gas lease sales onshore, netting more than $32 million in revenue for taxpayers. And next week, I will be travelling to New Orleans to participate in a lease sale for the Central Gulf of Mexico. These will add important resources to our domestic energy production.”

New Drought Plan Offered

http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/022709.html

From the Bureau of Reclamation:

Feb. 26, 2009

Secretary Salazar and Secretary Vilsack Pledge
Coordinated Federal Response to California Drought

Washington, DC – Today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the creation of a Federal Drought Action Team that will work cooperatively to respond to communities facing significant drought. With California currently facing one of its worst droughts in decades, the Drought Action Team will work with Governor Schwarzenegger’s state drought response team to minimize the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the current drought.

The announcement follows last Friday’s announcement by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation that, based on water forecasts, initial Water Year (WY) 2009 allocations for the Federal Central Valley Project (CVP) will be significantly limited for agricultural, municipal, industrial, and environmental uses.

“The drought situation in California is dire,” said Secretary Salazar. “Farms, ranches, and communities across the Central Valley are withering on the vine and in need of any help that the federal government can provide. The formation of a Federal Drought Action Team will ensure that the federal government’s response to the drought is coordinated across all agencies and that we are doing all we can to provide assistance where it is needed as quickly as possible.”

“President Obama has emphasized the need to have coordinated, transparent, and accountable actions throughout the federal government. With the creation of this Federal Drought Action Team, USDA and DOI will be working together to quickly deploy help to the communities that need it most,” Secretary Vilsack said. “During a disaster such as extreme drought, it is essential that farmers, ranchers, and rural communities have confidence that the government will be working together to ensure they have access to every tool available.”

The Federal Drought Action Team will include representatives appointed by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with representatives from other federal agencies. A similar federal drought action team was formulated in July 2005 to coordinate drought relief in the Pacific Northwest.

In addition, Secretary Salazar is directing the Bureau of Reclamation to work closely with State authorities to facilitate water transfers for the Drought Water Bank that is operated by the State. He also is directing Reclamation to provide operational flexibility to convey and store water to facilitate additional transfers and exchanges that can move water to critical-need areas, and to expedite any related environmental review and compliance actions. Finally, the Secretary is calling on Reclamation to explore ways in which funds recently appropriated to Reclamation under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for water reuse projects, and other water projects, might be used to help stretch California’s water supplies in the coming months.

Both USDA and DOI offer a range of assistance programs that help farmers, ranchers and rural communities impacted by drought. USDA programs that provide relief assistance include the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Crop Insurance through the Risk Management Agency (RMA), and the protection of rangeland forage from grasshopper outbreaks through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). When approved, producers in individual counties may be eligible for Emergency Loans and the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) administered by FSA. In addition, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical assistance to help producers plan and manage natural resources on private lands and administers the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to assist land managers with efficient water quantity management during drought conditions. The NRCS also administers Agricultural Water Enhancement Program focuses specifically on conservation of ground and surface water.

Additionally, in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, the NRCS Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program provides water supply information applicable to the affected area.