Feds Lift Moratorium On U.S. Solar Plant Applications

The Bureau of Land Management says it is calling off a recently announced moratorium on applications to build solar plants on public lands, The Associated Press reports.

The bureau wanted to put new applications for solar plants on federal land on hold until May 2010 while it reviewed potential environmental impacts from such plants.

Although the bureau has received for 125 proposed solar projects on about 1 million acres of land in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, it has not approved one.

Industry leaders remain worried about a $6 billion package of alternative energy tax credits, including about $1.3 billion for solar, that is stalled in Congress.