Feinstein on the desert protection plan: today's LA Times

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has done a lot of admirable work protecting California's wild desert lands from development, but her latest plans for the Mojave threaten to split the state's environmental community and could stall clean- energy projects whose construction should be among the nation's highest priorities.

Feinstein is working on legislation that would designate hundreds of thousands of acres of desert land as a national monument, which would put them off-limits for solar and wind energy projects. That could result in a green- versus-green confrontation, pitting those who want to protect the desert ecosystem against those who believe renewable-energy projects are a vital part of the struggle to avert catastrophic climate change.

But that's a false dichotomy. According to the U.S. Energy Department, enough sunlight hits a 100-square-mile portion of the Nevada desert to power the entire country, if it could be harnessed. The Southwestern desert is vast, and it should be possible to both protect key habitat for threatened species such as the desert tortoise and build huge solar arrays from California to Colorado.

The desert ecosystem is a terribly fragile one. Though it often looks like nothing is growing there, the desert is actually teeming with life -- life that subsists on a very delicate balance. We strongly support Feinstein's goal of protecting the desert, within reasonable bounds. Those include a recognition that global warming, if unchecked, will be far worse for all the world's species than a few solar power plants.

More at link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-desert27-2009mar27,0,3252665.story

[Lionel Mandrake]

1. K & R nt

[amborin]

2. it is a false dichotomy

as a desert lover, nothing could be better than setting aside more desert land for protection

at the same time, there's surely enough additional land for solar farms

(what about condemning and razing some of those abandoned shacks that litter so many
miles of desert in so many places?)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. I too believe that there's plenty of land for both

conservation and protection...

Reasonable people can work out these issues. It's not exactly rocket science!

Some compromising is in order.

[DainBramaged]

3. Move to where the food is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_VURr6jnWQ


:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear DainBramaged!

I wondered why you posted that Youtube! What a riot!

Thank you!

:hi: