US speeding up solar development in West

Salazar and Reid, the Democratic Senate majority leader, invoked President Obama’s call for rapid development of renewable energy.

“We hear a lot about doing something about the environment,’’ Reid said. “That’s what this is all about. We want to not be dependent on foreign oil. This will make America a more secure nation.’’

Salazar vowed to have 13 “commercial-scale’’ solar projects under construction by the end of 2010. He set a goal of producing a total of 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.

Salazar said the federal Bureau of Land Management plans to spend $22 million conducting studies of 24 tracts in the 670,000 acres of property he set aside in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Posters displayed yesterday showed some of the sites in southern Nevada, southern California east of San Diego, an area west of Phoenix, and tracts north of Cedar City in Utah, southwest of Pueblo, Colo., and around Las Cruces, N.M.

Bureau officials said the goal will be to identify lands of at least three square miles with solar exposure, suitable slopes, and proximity to existing or designated roads and transmission lines.

Wilderness, high-conservation-value lands, and lands with conflicting uses were excluded. Setting aside the sites, called Solar Energy Study Areas, would prevent new mining claims and other third-party use during the studies.

An industry official hailed Salazar’s promise to clear a logjam in utility-scale solar developments.

The BLM said it has 158 active applications for solar power plants pending.