February 19, 2021 - Washington - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the Biden administration reversed the Trump administration’s plan to amend the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan:

“I’m grateful the Biden administration blocked this effort to amend the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. There was no reason to change this carefully crafted plan to manage our desert.

“The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, which covers more than 10 million acres of the California desert, was finalized in 2016 after more than eight years of negotiations, scientific analysis, broad community engagement and thousands of public comments.

“It promotes renewable energy development and recreational uses while protecting ecologically sensitive, pristine parts of our desert landscape. The latest proposal would have opened 2.2 million acres of desert to mining and other destructive industry uses.

“Californians appreciated the balance created by the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, and we did not want to see it upended.”
Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein