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Office of the Secretary |
Contact: Eric Ruff |
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For Immediate Release: |
202-208-6416 |
Public Lands have Abundant Opportunities for
Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy Sources
President
Bush’s National Energy Policy laid
out a comprehensive, long-term energy strategy
WASHINGTON -- Reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign sources of energy and achieving the goal of secure, affordable and environmentally sound energy will require focused efforts on both the supply and demand side, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Steve Griles today told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“There is no one single solution to reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy,” Griles said. “We are looking at ways to increase renewable and non-renewable energy production on federal lands. Our process will involve all people in careful and open dialogues to help determine which areas might be appropriate for development and which ones might not.”
Griles noted that President Bush’s National Energy Policy laid out a comprehensive, long-term energy plan for securing America’s energy future through increased renewable and nonrenewable energy. “It is a strategy that recognizes that to reduce our rising dependence on foreign sources of energy, we must also increase domestic production.”
“We share mutual goals in the stewardship of America’s natural resources and our energy future,” Griles said. “The Interior Department is committed to a long-term strategy that produces traditional energy on federal lands in an environmentally responsible way.”
The United States currently consumes about 7 billion barrels of oil per year of which about 4 billion barrels are imported and 3 billion barrels are produced domestically. The president proposes to open a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to environmentally responsible oil and gas exploration, using newly developed, available, environmentally friendly technology. According to the latest assessments, ANWR is the largest untapped source of domestic petroleum and would equal nearly 60 years of imports from Iraq.
“Fossil fuel development is only a part of the solution to the nation’s energy issues,” Griles noted. “Increased energy conservation and alternative and renewable sources are also critical components of the president’s balanced, comprehensive energy policy.”
National Energy Policy encourages development of a cleaner, more diverse portfolios of domestic renewable energy sources. The policy includes geothermal, wind, solar and biomass, as well as continued research into using hydrogen as an alternative energy carrier.
Griles said as part of the department’s efforts to advance the president's National Energy Policy, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory last week announced the availability of a new report that identifies and evaluates renewable energy resources on public lands.
The report, titled "Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands," will help federal land managers make decisions on prioritizing land‑use activities that will increase development of renewable energy resources on public lands in the West (except Alaska). The report studied resources on BLM, Tribal and Forest Service lands.
The assessment was undertaken in response to a task developed from the president's National Energy Policy. The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management and the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory formed a partnership in June 2001 to conduct an assessment of access to renewable energy resources on BLM‑managed federal lands in the western United States.
The sources of renewable energy addressed in the report include wind, solar (photovoltaic and concentrating), biomass and geothermal energy. Federal land managers will use the report's findings in land‑use planning activities to prioritize land‑use plans and to increase the development and use of renewable energy resources on public lands.
Public land managers can use this report in tandem with the recently released Energy Policy and Conservation Act report that was requested by Congress. The EPCA report assesses access to nonrenewable energy (oil and gas) on public lands. The two reports identify areas of high potential for energy.
Coalbed natural gas from public lands can and should play a role in meeting the nation’s increasing energy needs. Also known as coalbed methane, coalbed natural gas accounts for about 9.6 percent of the total natural gas reserves in the United States. The Rocky Mountain States and New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana hold an estimated 30 to 40 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas resources associated with coal.
The
department is also taking steps to ensure that the Outer Continental Shelf
remains a solid contributor to our nation’s energy and economic security by
holding lease sales in available areas on schedule under the Minerals Management
Service’s 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2002-2007). The Plan calls for 20 lease sales in the
The Interior Department manages more than 500 million acres of public land, or one out of every 5 acres of U.S. land.
Interior-managed lands account for about 30 percent of America’s domestic energy production, including 48 percent of geothermal production, 35 percent of natural gas production (25 percent offshore and 10 percent onshore), 35 percent of coal production, 35 percent of oil production (30 percent offshore and 5 percent onshore), 20 percent of wind power, and 17 percent of hydropower.
Energy reserves contained in the lands and offshore areas managed by the Department of the Interior are an important source of potential energy development and production. Estimates suggest that these lands contain approximately 68 percent of all undiscovered U.S. oil resources and 74 percent of undiscovered natural gas resources.
Griles said that the president’s energy plan will increase the quality of life for Americans by providing stable, reliable energy and protecting the environment. “In implementing this plan, we must have open dialogues with state and local officials. We must work together and involve all stakeholders in the process.”
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