House Dems, Interior Department at odds over solar energy event

Several House Democrats are pressing the Interior Department to reverse its decision not to allow this year’s Solar Decathlon – a biennial event that showcases innovative solar homes – to be held on the National Mall.
 

In a letter Friday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and several colleagues call preventing use of the Mall “short-sighted,” and claim using the area wouldn’t collide with National Park Service (NPS) restoration plans.

{mosads}“When Decathlon organizers approached the National Park Service last September for a permit, it may have appeared that holding the event on the Mall this year was at odds with restoring the turf as outlined in the [National] Mall Plan but recent developments make clear that no conflict exists,” states the letter.

It is also signed by Democrats including Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), the ranking member of the subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and Jim Moran (Va.), the top Democrat on the panel of the Appropriations Committee that sets Interior Department spending.

The letter claims that according to the park service, which is part of the Interior Department, restoration of the turf is not slated to begin until after the September Decathlon.

The Decathlon is a Department of Energy-hosted competition launched in 2002 in which collegiate teams design and build solar-powered homes that are judged on a variety of attributes.

The lawmakers’ letter claims that holding the event on the National Mall this year would provide plenty of time to find a suitable alternative site for the next event.

“Hosting the Solar Decathlon on the Mall this year will allow the Department of Energy to continue building on the success of this fantastic event while also providing the NPS an opportunity to document the challenges of managing the Mall and highlight the innovative strategies included in the Mall Plan to a large audience interested in sustainability,” the letter states.

But Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff on Friday defended the decision not to hold the event on the Mall this year.

“Together, the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior concluded that in order to do what was best for the Mall that an alternative location was needed. The Department of the Interior fully supports the Solar Decathlon and has been working with DOE to help the event be successful with an alternate site,” she said in a statement.

Barkoff added:

“We have a responsibility to balance the many uses and demands on the Mall, and to address the fact that the condition of the National Mall has deteriorated significantly as the pressures on it have grown. To balance these uses, and to help the Mall return to the condition that Americans expect of it, we finalized the National Mall Plan in December, 2010. That plan, which was informed by tens of thousands of public comments, lays out a clear path for improving the appearance and management of America’s Front Yard. Improving the condition and management of the National Mall will require tough choices if we are to right balance that meets the high expectations Americans have for their Mall.”