You may have missed this bit of distressing news last month, but the Bureau of Land Management put a halt on all new applications for solar energy projects on federal lands. The BLM claims that a thorough environmental impact study is needed to properly evaluate the effects of solar projects on the 119 million acres of land it oversees in the West, otherwise known as prime solar real estate. The BLM will not accept new solar proposals for two years. They will continue to process the proposals they have received up until now.

The BLM hopes to examine in more detail issues like water usage of solar facilities, how to reclaim and restore the land after the projects possible 30 year life-cycles, and what possible risks are posed to wildlife such as the desert tortoise and Mojave ground squirrel.

This announcement hasn't gone over so well in the solar industry. Emerging solar energy companies are in their infant stages and a freeze on projects for two years could stop them in their tracks. Forcing companies to compete over leasing private land could put smaller companies at a disadvantage. This is likely to "throw a monkey-wrench in the industry" according to Craig Cox of the Interwest Energy Alliance.

However, not everyone thinks this will be a blow for solar. Linda Resseguie of BLM points out that the agency wants to see solar development, and the environmental impact assessment will “provide consistency and certainty for solar developers.” Katherine Gensler from Solar Energy Industries Association agrees with BLM, pointing out that the environmental impact assessment will eliminate extensive and repetitive investigations of solar power's general ecological effects and will accelerate solar permitting in the near future.