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January 2, 2010
Solar Farm Held Up for Two Dozen Tortoises
Posted by Dave Blount at January 2, 2010 1:16 PM
Not even solar power is inefficient enough for the environazis who dictate our energy policy to permit its use. Just as windmills have been suppressed in the name of put-upon ground squirrels, a massive solar panel project is being held up on the grounds it might inconvenience a handful of reptiles.
On a strip of California's Mojave Desert, two dozen rare tortoises could stand in the way of a sprawling solar-energy complex in a case that highlights mounting tensions between wilderness conservation and the nation's quest for cleaner power.
Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy has been pushing for more than two years for permission to erect 400,000 mirrors on the site to gather the sun's energy. It could become the first project of its kind on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property, leaving a footprint for others to follow on vast stretches of public land across the West.
The construction would come with a cost: Government scientists have concluded that more than 6 square miles of habitat for the federally threatened desert tortoise would be permanently lost. …
BrightSource President John Woolard warned in government filings released this month that heavy-handed regulation could kill the proposal. He did not mention the tortoises directly but referred to "unbounded and extreme" requirements being placed on the company.
If not for the sacred tortoises, the site would be perfect. There's even a golf club nearby.
The site has virtually unbroken sunshine most of the year, and is near transmission lines that can carry the power to consumers.
In November, federal and state biologists reviewing the plan proposed that the company catch and move the tortoises and preserve 12,000 acres elsewhere, a proposal that could cost BrightSource an estimated $25 million.
Not good enough for the ecofascists of the Sierra Club, who want the whole project moved somewhere else, where they will no doubt find another pretext to prevent it from going forward.
The Cap & Trade bill endorsed by Chairman Zero that has already passed Congress would launch energy costs through the stratosphere, throwing millions out of work. But that won't be enough for the insane and antihuman environmental movement, which will not rest until we are denied any energy at all.
On tips from scottthong and John L. Hat tip: What Bubba Knows.
