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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Tuesday it is pursuing two major solar projects on federal land in the California desert, following West Virginia senator and coal industry Joe Manchin III, advancing clean energy plans using federal authority. His backer said this week that he would not support the broader climate law and would stop it in Congress.
The Interior Ministry said the two approved solar projects and the third project, whose approval is nearing completion, will generate around 1,000 megawatts, enough electricity to power around 132,000 homes. All three projects are in Riverside County, California.
Project approvals are important because they represent one of the few policy tools the Biden administration can use as it works to steer the United States off fossil fuels and meet the nation’s goal of roughly halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Democrats have pledged to move forward by voting the Build Better Act, President Biden’s signature policy agenda, which includes a $555 billion clean energy tax credit. However, given Mr Manchin’s statement announcing his opposition this week, the measure is not expected to pass.
Without this law, Mr. Biden is left with executive actions to further his agenda. But this authority also faces challenges. In February, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by coal companies and Republic-led states to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
“All bets are off with this Supreme Court,” said John Podesta, a former senior aide to President Barack Obama, in a speech at a recent panel discussion on climate change. “It’s definitely a challenge.”
The solar farms approved Tuesday are known as the Arica and Victory Pass projects. According to the Ministry of Interior, these will be photovoltaic solar projects and will generate up to a total of 465 megawatts of electricity with up to 400 megawatts of battery storage. It would cost about $689 billion to build, according to the agency, which calls the combined projects “infrastructure investment.”
The Bureau of Land Management is also expected to approve a separate 500-megawatt photovoltaic plan, known as the Oberon solar project, in the coming days. Located on 2,700 acres of public land in Riverside County, the facility is expected to generate 500 megawatts of renewable energy and power approximately 142,000 homes, the agency said.
“The efficient implementation of renewable energy projects will create well-paid jobs and is crucial to helping the Biden-Harris administration achieve its goal of a carbon pollution-free energy sector by 2035,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management. , in a statement.
Meanwhile, the agency also said it’s seeking interest in utility-scale solar development on nearly 90,000 acres of public land in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, which it calls solar districts. In addition to eliminating emissions from fossil fuels in the electricity sector by 2035, Mr. Biden has pledged to reduce United States emissions by at least 52 percent of 2005 levels by the end of the decade.
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