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Desert Vistas vs. Solar Power
NY Times ^ | December 21, 2009 | Todd Woody

Posted on 12/21/2009 6:48:20 PM PST by americanophile

AMBOY, Calif. — Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region.

But before the bill to create two new Mojave national monuments has even had its first hearing, the California Democrat has largely achieved her aim. Regardless of the legislation’s fate, her opposition means that few if any power plants are likely to be built in the monument area, a complication in California’s effort to achieve its aggressive goals for renewable energy.

Developers of the projects have already postponed several proposals or abandoned them entirely. The California agency charged with planning a renewable energy transmission grid has rerouted proposed power lines to avoid the monument.

“The very existence of the monument proposal has certainly chilled development within its boundaries,” said Karen Douglas, chairwoman of the California Energy Commission.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: alternativeenergy; desert; diannefeinstein; feinstein; mojave; renewable; solarenergy
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LOL. I guess those green jobs won't be materializing after all. So now we can't drill, can't have nukes, are deconstructing our hydorelectric dams and now can't have wind or solar either. The green alternative is no alternative.
1 posted on 12/21/2009 6:48:20 PM PST by americanophile
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To: americanophile

“The green alternative is no alternative. “

Thats been the point all along. Cheap energy is Americas greatest strength.


2 posted on 12/21/2009 6:49:32 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: americanophile

I call that RAT position: “The No Energy Policy”.


3 posted on 12/21/2009 6:49:57 PM PST by ROCKLOBSTER (RATs, nothing more than bald haired hippies.)
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To: americanophile

They all want ‘green’ energy. Just not in their backyards.


4 posted on 12/21/2009 6:52:43 PM PST by ReneeLynn (Socialism is SO yesterday. Fascism, it*s the new black. Mmm Mmm Mmm.)
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To: americanophile

Elfin magic is the obvious energy choice.


5 posted on 12/21/2009 6:54:11 PM PST by cripplecreek (Seniors, the new shovel ready project under socialized medicine.)
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To: americanophile

NIMBY


6 posted on 12/21/2009 6:55:54 PM PST by ladyjane
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To: americanophile

Ha! What a dilemna for the libs!

Can’t have their cake and eat it too, can they?

Reminds me of the paradox of “native” Americans, how they have logged all their lands here in Alaska (which I approve of by the way), but....typical libs admire the Indians and think of them as the “noble keepers of the land” until they discover the clear cut they are looking at was logged by Indians....cracks me up, their response of silence...


7 posted on 12/21/2009 6:58:02 PM PST by gettinolder (Smashed lips save ships.)
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To: americanophile

Anyone ever been to Amboy Ca? I have. I used to drive Amboy rd to I-40 every weekend from Twentynine Palms. There is less than nothing out there. Amboy is on the northern edge of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. You also may have seen Amboy in the 1985 movie The Hitcher. The cafe in the movie is in Amboy.


8 posted on 12/21/2009 6:58:30 PM PST by sean327 (God created all men equal, then some become Marines!)
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To: cripplecreek

The Home Of The Future...LOL! :)

9 posted on 12/21/2009 6:58:43 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save the Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.)
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To: americanophile

The Left is, and has been on course to eliminate the most basic of American resources, and halt all progress of the great American Dream Machine. We are destined at the hands of the Left to poverty equal to that of the poorest Third World Nation(s).

This is the goal of the Left, the modern Democrat.


10 posted on 12/21/2009 6:59:35 PM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists...Call 'em What you Will, They ALL have Fairies Living In Their Trees.)
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To: sean327

Yes, it’s about as close to a wasteland as you can get in Calfornia. Desert vistas?


11 posted on 12/21/2009 7:02:13 PM PST by americanophile (Merry Christmas!)
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To: americanophile

As part of our overall preparedness plans, I have looked into various “alternative” power sources including home-based wind and solar. Neither one offers a source of reliable and affordable power.

The best solar panel I have found available generates 90 watts of output and sells for $25 a watt, or $2,250. To generate 1000 watts of power to recharge a battery bank of reasonable size would cost $25,000 just for the panels. If you want to track the sun to maximize power the cost only mounts.

And one of the biggest problems any solar panel faces is dirt. You have to plan on providing a lot of water and manpower just to clean the panels every couple of days.

There are several nice wind power generators and alternators out there, but none of them generate anything when the wind isn’t blowing. You’re better off building an alternator into a bicycle frame...

Green jobs?? yah...sure...


12 posted on 12/21/2009 7:02:29 PM PST by Bean Counter (Stout Hearts....)
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To: cripplecreek

The California choice is to remain a parasite on their neighbors. I wish they would just refuse to sell power to Kalifornianstan.


13 posted on 12/21/2009 7:04:39 PM PST by Kozak (USA 7/4/1776 to 1/20/2009 Reqiescat in Pace)
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To: americanophile

I love the desert, so I don’t think it’s a wasteland. I’m one of the crazy people who think the desert is beautiful. I wouldn’t live any where else.


14 posted on 12/21/2009 7:06:19 PM PST by sean327 (God created all men equal, then some become Marines!)
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To: americanophile
“This is arguably the best solar land in the world, and Senator Feinstein shouldn’t be allowed to take this land off the table without a proper and scientific environmental review,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist and a partner with a venture capital firm that invested in a solar developer called BrightSource Energy.

Would this be the same Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that, with the help of his now deceased uncle Ted, successfully blocked the construction of a windfarm in Nantucket Sound, their backyard?

An Ill Wind Off Cape Cod

15 posted on 12/21/2009 7:12:48 PM PST by DakotaRed (What happened to the country I fought for?)
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To: rockinqsranch

‘swhy they need to be smashed.


16 posted on 12/21/2009 7:14:50 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Impeachment !)
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To: sean327

“I love the desert, so I don’t think it’s a wasteland. I’m one of the crazy people who think the desert is beautiful. I wouldn’t live any where else.”

I do to. I have camped in those areas and hunted deer. Looks like the greenies are fighting among themsleves and like said above those green jobs are going to be hard to come by. Anyways lets build some nuclear power plants and clean coal plants. Then drill baby drill.


17 posted on 12/21/2009 7:22:04 PM PST by Parley Baer
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To: americanophile

These guys will object no matter where you build the solar power plant. They don't like the idea of science and engineering majors having any say in developing the future.
18 posted on 12/21/2009 7:27:12 PM PST by jmcenanly
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To: americanophile

The pristine dessert will be spoiled by solar farms.....it’s worse than ANWR!!

Hypocrites


19 posted on 12/21/2009 7:28:12 PM PST by PALIN SMITH (Show them our respectable contempt!)
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To: americanophile

I actually know someone who wants to cover the entire state of New Mexico with solar panels because she thinks no one is using it.


20 posted on 12/21/2009 7:36:19 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
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