The Public Lands and Renewable Energy Act of 2011 creates a framework for developing renewable energy on public lands in an environmentally‐sound and efficient way.
On October 18, 2011, The Wilderness Society sent a report titled Rural Jobs and America’s Public Lands: Putting Rural America Back to Work to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, urging them to consider the benefits of conservation and recreation to the American economy.
The following letter to co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling accompanied the report:
Dear Senator Murray and Representative Hensarling:
The oil and gas industry claims that the only way to address our country’s numerous energy issues is to open more public lands and waters to oil and natural gas drilling. What they don’t tell you is that drilling in America is already occurring at an astonishing pace and in a bewildering number of places. The facts below show that “more drilling” won’t solve America’s energy problems.
A brief of a whitepaper written by federal lands consultant Pamela Baldwin commissioned by The Wilderness Society and Taxpayers for Common Sense to investigate what public land laws and regulations say about “fair market value” in the context of other federal resource programs and current federal wind and solar programs on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) reports a likely 2°C to 4.5°C temperature rise in the upcoming decades. This warming is likely to affect ecosystems and their ability to provide services that benefit human well-being. Ecosystem services valuation (ESV), meanwhile, has emerged as a way to recognize the economic value embodied in these services that is not currently reflected in markets.
Our public lands have immense potential for renewable energy generation. Responsible development of these resources will be critical in ensuring our clean energy future also protects our land, water, and communities.
