"Global warming, energy independence and good 21st-century jobs are three compelling reasons why Washington must do a lot more to promote renewable energy. Congress seemed to get it in 2005 when it directed the Interior Department to approve enough wind, solar and other projects on public land to produce 10,000 megawatts by 2015 — enough to heat, cool and light five million homes. Not much has happened since. The George W. Bush administration was fixated on oil and gas exploration. The Obama administration was slow to get going. Until a little over three weeks ago, the Interior Department had approved more than 73,000 oil and gas leases since 2005, but only one offshore wind energy project and not a single solar project.

Things are beginning to turn around. In recent weeks, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has approved six large-scale solar power projects on public land — five in California, one in Nevada — that together will provide enough power for as many as two million homes.

He also gave final approval to the country’s first commercial offshore wind farm, off the coast of Massachusetts. And a group of companies including Google announced plans to build an underwater transmission system to carry wind-generated power from public lands on the Atlantic Coast to Eastern cities. "

Get the Story:
Editorial: Remember Renewable Energy? (The New York Times 10/28)

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