Posted on 10/19/2009 12:57:30 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Reporting from El Centro, Calif. - Across the desert flatlands of southeastern California, dozens of companies have flooded federal offices with applications to place solar mirrors on more than a million acres of public land.
But just as some of those projects appear headed toward fruition, environmental hurdles threaten to jeopardize efforts to further tap the region's renewable energy potential.
The development of solar-power facilities in the desert has been a top priority of the Obama administration as it seeks to ease the nation's dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming. In addition, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged that the state meet one-third of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020.
Companies are racing to finalize their permits and break ground by the end of next year, which would qualify them to obtain some of the $15 billion in federal stimulus funds designated for renewable energy projects. At stake is the creation of 48,000 jobs and more than 5,300 megawatts of new energy, enough to power almost 1.8 million homes, according to federal land managers.
But the presence of sensitive habitat, rare plants and imperiled creatures such as desert tortoises, bighorn sheep and flat-tailed horned lizards threatens to stall or derail some of the projects closest to securing permits.
"There are significant environmental issues involved in the California gold rush-like scenario unfolding in the desert," said Peter Galvin, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity. "We are not going to just roll over when critical wild lands and last habitats of endangered species are in the mix."
Beyond the environmental issues is a bureaucratic one: State and federal regulatory agencies are hobbled by mandatory work furloughs and a lack of experience in processing utility-scale renewable energy project applications.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
This was as predictable as the sun rising tomorrow.
Leftist gridlock?
why would they use mirror arrays for solar collectors? Why not do industrial scale photovoltaic cells?
I sincerely doubt any of the environmentalists have spent any time in the desert. Most of the critters like the night better than the day.
So either the Democrats have shot themselves in the foot or their idiotic environmental laws are deliberately being used against them.
Agreed. These are morons that portray ANWR as some sort of Garden of Eden.
The cold-blooded critters like the tortoises, lizards and snakes like the daytime. They require the sun's heat to move about. Whole different set of animals out and about at night though, you're right about that part.
Interesting. Wear and tear is a good argument. I guess not having a power plant is better then making use of some pretty desolate areas.
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