MEDIA ALERT

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rebecca Watson to Address the World Renewable Energy Congress, Aug. 31

WASHINGTON- Rebecca Watson, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management will address the eighth World Renewable Energy Congress in Denver, Colo., on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004.

"Energy production and environmental protection are not competing priorities," Watson said. "Our national energy strategy not only enhances supplies of renewable and nonrenewable energy, it places an important focus on conservation."

Assistant Secretary Watson will join land and renewable energy experts from around the country to discuss the important role the Interior Department play in the development of the nation's renewable energy resources. The Interior Department manages 1 out of every 5 acres of land in the United States and provides for nearly one-third of the nation's energy. Renewable energy currently supplies only 2 percent (not including hydropower) of the nation's needs. Watson will address new initiatives that are being planned to expand the development and use of renewable energy sources on federal land.

Who: Rebecca Watson, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management

What: Role of the Department of the Interior in the development of the nation's renewable energy resources

When: Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004
Panel Discussion: 9:30-10:30 a.m. (MDT)
Media availability: 10:40 a.m. (MDT)

Where: Marriott Denver City Center
1701 California Street
Denver, Colo. 80202

For information about the World Renewable Congress go to http://www.nrel.gov/wrec/