Posted on 03/20/2009 7:20:45 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) More than 500,000 acres in the Mojave Desert would be off-limits to wind or solar energy production under legislation Sen. Dianne Feinstein intends to introduce. The land is coveted by companies seeking to develop alternative energy, setting up a potential clash with one of the more powerful members of Congress.
The land would seem ideally suited for solar energy production. Nineteen companies have submitted applications to build solar or wind facilities on the property, but such development would violate the spirit of what conservationists had intended when they donated much of the land to the public, said Feinstein, the California Democrat.
The Wildlands Conservancy orchestrated the government's purchase of the land between 1999-2004. It negotiated a discount sale from the real estate arm of the former Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroad and then contributed $40 million to help pay for the purchase. David Myers, the conservancy's executive director, said the solar projects would do great harm to the region's desert tortoise population.
"It would destroy the entire Mojave Desert ecosystem," said David Myers, executive director of The Wildlands Conservancy.
Feinstein said the lands in question were donated or purchased with the intent that they would be protected forever. But the Bureau of Land Management considers the land now open to all types of development, except mining.
That policy led the state to consider large swaths of the land for future renewable energy production.
"This is unacceptable," Feinstein said in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. "I urge you to direct the BLM to suspend any further consideration of leases to develop former railroad lands for renewable energy or for any other purpose."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
NIMBY Alart!!!
Ok what's the story behind that?
In a speech last year, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger complained about environmental concerns slowing down the approval of solar plants in California.
"If we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave Desert, I don't know where the hell we can put it," Schwarzenegger said at Yale University.
I say we put the solar panels on her house in SF. It’s big enough.
(no link)
Take a look at coincidences in solar power deal
Argus, The (Fremont-Newark, CA) - Thursday, October 16, 2008
Author: MediaNews editorial
THERE IS A fascinating relationship tied to a breakthrough solar-energy complex near the Mojave Desert Preserve. What is significant about this is the players involved stand to make a handsome sum of money becoming the first solar-generating station on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land.
A report by The Associated Press mapped out a relationship that goes as high as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and as broad as some of the nation’s most successful companies, including San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. and Mountain View-based Google. At stake is a project that could be in the forefront of solar power at a time when the nation faces high fuel costs and potential climate change. Research shows a project like this, with sunlight reflecting off more than 200,000 mirrors in the desert, could potentially power the nation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is cousin to first lady Maria Shriver and Terry Tamminen was state Environmental Protection Secretary under Schwarzenegger. The two were named senior advisers at Silicon Valley-based VantagePoint Venture Partners last year. VantagePoint has a major stake in Oakland-based startup BrightSource Energy, which is planning to spend $2 billion to construct solar power plants along the Nevada border, and has locked up a deal to sell electricity to PG&E, enough to power 321,000 homes annually. While Kennedy and Tamminen are not working on the BrightSource application submitted to the state a year ago, they still stand to profit greatly if the projects gets the go-ahead from state regulators.
Meanwhile, VantagePoint is BrightSource ‘s biggest investor, utilizing financing from Chevron Technology Ventures, Google.org and J.P. Morgan. Chevron has donated more than $690,000 to Schwarzenegger’s political ventures, and VantagePoint executives have also donated directly or indirectly to the governor. Is it a coincidence that Schwarzenegger has been pushing hard for Californians toward solar power? Is it a coincidence that Schwarzenegger was at center stage at a conference for Mexican and U.S. governors where Kennedy gave an endorsement for BrightSource ? Is it a coincidence that Schwarzenegger introduced BrightSource CEO John Woolard, who is also a senior adviser at VantagePoint, at the governors conference in August?
(snip)
Brightsource is one of those “bipartisan” fleecings. It’s one of Terry Tamminen and RFJjr’s solar investments that will rake in the rewards of Arnie’s environmental programs (that Tamminen and RFKjr wrote/implemented). Sweet deal, eh?
They’re lining up to use BLM land, I forget the exact location.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2115780/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185098/posts
Funny thing is that you can build a coal plant on a couple hundred acres almost anywhere — even cities. They are generally pretty good neighbors and don’t cause much disruption to the local area.
A major solar plant will take up hundreds of square miles of wilderness to produce the same level of energy.
RFJjrs should be RFKjr’s
I’m to damn tired to investigate anything today.
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