U.S. solar moratorium is reversed

LAS VEGAS, July 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. moratorium on solar power projects has ended.

Last month the Bureau of Land Management closed the door on applications to build solar plants on federal land in Nevada and five other Southwest states. Officials said they wanted time to study their environmental consequences.

On Wednesday BLM officials reversed the moratorium because of the public outcry following its issuance.

"We heard the concerns expressed during the (public meetings) about waiting to consider new applications and we are taking action," BLM Director James Caswell said.

The reversal reportedly came two weeks after Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., learned from a Las Vegas Sun article that the BLM was implementing a 22-month freeze on solar projects. He immediately vowed to fight it.

With $4-a-gallon gas and energy a heavy issue on voters' minds, cutting out solar seemed to be the wrong approach.

Reid said the moratorium was wrong, "especially when you consider that as we speak tens of millions of acres are leased to oil companies for drilling."

By ending the freeze, many say the agency has only fixed part of the problem since it manages 67 percent of Nevada land and has yet to approve a single application out of the 130 it has received.