Just recently the news broke: "Feinstein wants desert swath off-limits to solar, wind projects". That's right, Senator Diane Feinstein, an icon in California politics and the Democratic Party; a champion on so many progressive issues, has decided to wage a fight against one of the most critical issues of our time; renewable energy development in the West.
Feinstein wants to make off-limits a significant amount of land in the California desert to solar and wind projects. The area she is focusing on would host mostly solar projects.
Here is a link to the story: LA TIMES
More below the fold
According to the LA Times, the area of concern to Sen. Feinstein is between the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park. It would constitute up to 800,000 acres in an area that holds some of the most promise for large scale solar energy in the United States.
Sen. Feinstein plans to introduce legislation that would "permanently put hundreds of thousands of acres of desert land off limits to energy projects. The territory would be designated California's newest national monument."
A number of solar projects under review by the Dept. of Interior's Bureau of Land Management are within this territory. Critical transmission paths lie within the territory as well. Such a move wouldn't end efforts to develop California's vast solar energy resource, but it would greatly hinder those efforts, and perhaps prevent millions of people from getting their electricity from solar power.
Certainly the impacts of large scale solar plants have their questions. Emissions caused by ventilation of thermal oil are a concern. Impacts on habitat are a concern. But is the answer closing off the land or trying to address these impacts on a project by project basis?
Developing a clean energy infrastructure has its trade offs, no question. However, just turning our backs on clean energy is not the solution. Each and every renewable energy source, be it solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, or hydro, has to innovate to reduce impacts. Significant effort has been made to reduce environmental impacts from these energy resources which typically create little emissions, but can impact large areas of land (with the exception of geothermal which uses very little land). However, they should be allowed to innovate. They should be allowed to compete. These projects already have to endure significant permitting and environmental study before they can be built. Why stop a process that is working?
Of course there must be more efforts at improving building codes in our cities and building far more rooftop solar, particularly in cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix. Efforts are being made to do so. But it isn't enough. We have an incredible resource in some of our remote areas. We can fit these projects in those areas. Just east of Yosemite National Park at Mammoth Lakes sits a geothermal plant nobody can see. It is painted green and doesn't produce steam plumes. Two solar plants lay southeast of Las Vegas, built low to the ground, and fitting into the environment.
This can be done, but if Sen. Feinstein has her way, these 21st century technologies won't even get a chance to try. Shame on Diane Feinstein. If she won't back off her war on solar, then the progressives should turn their back on her before she causes irreparable harm to our energy future.