Obama Administration Moves Past Solyndra, Updates 'Solar Energy Zones'

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Thursday identified 17 sites in six Western states as prime candidates for solar energy projects on public lands, continuing a push for solar power despite the high-profile bankruptcy of a solar panel maker that received a half-billion dollar federal loan.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the latest "Solar Energy Zones" refine and improve on a draft released in December that identified two dozen areas in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

[Check out or Energy Intelligence blog.]

Five sites in Nevada, four in Colorado, three in Utah, two each in California and Arizona, and one in New Mexico were identified as ideal for solar development.

The sites comprise 285,000 acres, down from about 677,000 acres in December, and reflect the department's judgment that the targeted land has the highest potential for solar development with the fewest environmental conflicts.

The plan is intended to promote development of large, utility-scale solar projects on public lands that will generate thousands of megawatts of electricity. The zones are intended to maximize electrwicity generation while minimizing conflicts with wildlife, cultural and historic resources.

Salazar called the announcement a "giant step forward" as officials step up efforts to promote solar power, particularly in the West.

The administration's push for renewable energy has come under attack since California-based Solyndra Inc. closed its doors two month ago after receiving a $528 million federal loan. The company declared bankruptcy and laid off its 1,100 workers.

The new plan, which is subject to a 90-day public comment period, "establishes for the first time a blueprint for landscape-level planning that will help facilitate smarter siting of solar energy projects," Salazar said in a conference call with reporters.

[Read about the Republican case against Solyndra.]

It also proposes to open an additional 20 million acres of public land to future solar development.

While California has only two projects — both near the Arizona border in the southeastern corner of the state — it has more than half the total acreage, with 153,627 acres. Nevada has the next-highest acreage at 60,395.

Salazar and other officials said the plan aims to reduce conflicts and delays in approving solar projects, by identifying areas that have been "pre-screened" to show they are near transmission sites and have few in any environmental conflicts. The sites are also considered to have strong sunlight, with minimal rain or clouds.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said the new plan "provides more clarity' on how projects can proceed and gives potential developers certainty that they will be working in areas that the government considers suited for solar power.

The new plan is based in part on more than 80,000 comments received after the draft plan was announced in December. The seven sites that were dropped from the draft plan include two each in California, Nevada and New Mexico, and one in Arizona.

None of the seven sites had attracted significant interest from investors and either had looming environmental conflicts or were far away from transmission lines, Hayes said, adding that he is confident the remaining 17 projects will be attractive to utilities and other developers.

The department has 79 applications for solar projects on public lands pending and expects to approve as many as 14 next year, officials said.

Four public meetings on the plan are scheduled in November and December.

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Congress, Administration Discuss Next Steps on Iran

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Americans are rightfully praising U.S. law enforcement officials for stopping an alleged Iranian terror plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in a Washington eatery—an act of war, some argue—on U.S. soil. Thanks to them, no harm was done to either the main target, Ambassador Adel Al-Jubei, or bystanders in Washington.

So, without having to struggle with collateral damage, lawmakers and the Obama administration can now focus on ratcheting up the pressure on Iran.

[Read: Terror Plot's Mystery Link to Iran]

On Thursday, members of the Obama administration appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to assess already implemented sanctions on Iran. The hearing, which had been planned weeks before the plot was made public showed that lawmakers and the administration are looking toward the bigger problems posed by Iran, from its domestic human rights violations to its developing nuclear threat.

"Although sanctions have helped to limit Iran's military capabilities, the events of this week demonstrate that Iran remains determined to find new avenues to carry out acts of terrorism," said Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, the committee's ranking member. "Moreover, because Iran continues its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, failure to effectively enforce sanctions against Iran could have catastrophic results in just a few years. We cannot afford to be one step behind Iran."

Almost immediately after Attorney General Eric Holder announced the charges against Iranians Manssor Arbabsiar, the naturalized U.S. citizen who had been orchestrating the terror plot, and his alleged accomplice in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Qods Force, Gholam Shakuri, the Treasury Department responded with sanctions of its own. Treasury placed additional sanctions on both accused men, as well as three other top Qods officials. On Wednesday, they also issued sanctions against Iranian airline Mahan Air, which has been linked with the Qods Force.

[Read: Iran Has Much to Lose if Syria's Assad Falls]

In addition to continued sanctions imposed on Iran over the years, senators are floating a number of potential ways that the United States can better enforce its sanctions against Iran and push allies to do the same.

Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk says he has bipartisan support in the Senate for calling on the United States to work toward disabling the Iranian central bank, a measure that would cut off funding for the revolutionary guard corps. So far, according to the Treasury Department's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen, U.S. officials have been encouraging banks around the world to stop doing business with Iran's central bank and financial industry. Additional sanctions under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, which went into effect last year, gave the Treasury the power to issue other nations' banks an ultimatum. Cohen said it allows U.S. officials to tell the banks, "You have a choice to make. You can continue to do business with the United States, or you can continue to do business with designated Iranian banks, but you can't do both." "It has been tremendously effective," Cohen testified.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez has also proposed legislation that would close a loophole in current sanctions that allows European refiners to use Iranian crude oil in gasoline exported to the United States. And Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester pushed the administration to reconsider the enforcement of sanctions on foreign subsidies of U.S. companies, in response to reports earlier this month that said an American company, Koch Industries, of bypassing sanctions laws.

The Obama administration has been considering other measures, officials said, including working harder to persuade countries like China, Spain, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey to limit their business with Iran's energy sector, on which its economy and military forces rely. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said American diplomats have been trying to persuade foreign governments to increase the pressure on Iran since news of the proposed attack broke. Senators, like Kirk, are also pushing the administration to designate the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

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