LAS VEGAS, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told a Nevada energy conference she was committed to advancing clean energy needs with conservation in mind.
She said the department was working to approve the development of 20,000 megawatts of clean energy projects on public land by 2020.
"We need to take a close look at these resources to determine where it makes sense to develop renewable energy and, just as importantly, where it does not," she said in a statement Tuesday.
Jewell said part of the landscape-level approach was apparent in the establishment of the West Chocolate Mountains Renewable Energy Evaluation Area on public lands in California's Imperial Valley. The government estimates the 64,000-acre site could support the development of solar and geothermal power.
Jewell said the project development includes inputs from federal, state local and tribal governments to ensure renewable energy projects don't harm natural or cultural resources.
The Interior Department said it would look at "development focus areas" in western states that would support renewable energy in a way that protects plant and wildlife communities.
