Solar energy projects on federal lands in Arizona and other Western states have been put on hold by the Bush administration for two years. The pause has been put in place to give researchers a chance to study the environmental impact of such projects.

This has come while there are 125 outstanding applications from solar energy companies in the states involved.

At a time when the solar energy industry is booming ahead around the world and, given a chance the industry would continue to expand in western USA, there is a concern that this decision flies in the face of the fact that the development of renewable energy projects should be accelerated rather than decelerated.

If, while this pause is taknig place, we see a continued announcement of new coal and gas-fired power plants, it will confirm the hypocracy behind the true motivation of the decision.