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Plan seeks to encourage alternative energy while protecting environment

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell unveils the Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan at the AES wind farm in the San Gorgonio Pass in Palm Springs on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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With a backdrop of slowly turning wind turbines, the U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Tuesday unveiled a plan to manage conservation and renewable energy production on more than 22 million acres in California as part of a federal and state effort to promote clean energy projects.

The Desert Renewable Energy and Conservation Plan has been five years in the making and carves out most of the California desert and inland valleys for large-scale solar, wind and geothermal development. It also identifies areas where conservation will trump energy development.

The 8,000-page document is meant to direct development to less environmentally sensitive areas of the state. But the plan also has a loophole that allows companies to apply for a variance to develop at a sensitive site where they wish to place an energy project.

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Many conservation groups object to the variances, arguing that the desert is already sprinkled with badly sited projects pushed through under pressure by developers.

“They are unwilling to make a courageous decision to say, “No,” to horrible projects,” said David Lamfrom with the National Parks Conservation Assn.

Few groups had a chance to read a draft of the plan, which was released Tuesday afternoon. Most environmental organizations cautiously praised it as a good start.

Jewell praised California as a leader in renewable energy, as did U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and other officials who braved blistering heat during a ceremony that took place at a wind farm near Palm Springs.

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