Pure Insanity - Gov't halts solar plants for 'environmental' reasons

"Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years." -- Dan Frosch, The New York Times, today.

Uh huh, yeah, right. So NOW the government is suddenly concerned about the environment? Oh, those solar plants could destroy us! But, let's drill off the coasts, and of course, it's perfectly OK with the Bureau of Land Management to pillage their lands with all manner of gas and oil rigs. But not solar -- oh no!

Anybody else see the paranoid hand of the administration meddling here?

Sure, projects should be reviewed for environmental impact. But as Craig Cox, the executive director of the Interwest Energy Alliance (a renewable energy trade group) said, the freeze would "throw a monkey wrench" into the solar energy industry at precisely the wrong time. "I think it's good to have a plan," Mr. Cox said, "but I don't think we need to stop development in its tracks."

Oh, but the Bush administration is already working on 'alternative' energy'! It's their 'drill the coasts' alternative! After all, their oil buddies can't make a dime on these solar plants.