In yesterday's "Solar Projects Draw New Opposition", writer Peter Maloney cites "human residents who describe themselves as desert survivors and who are unhappy about the proliferation of solar projects planned for their home turf." The article quotes local activists such as Donna Charpied (long-time opponent of the Eagle Mountain trash dump) and Jim Harvey (of JT-based Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy).
It also hints at the tension on this issue between the national leadership of the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council, which has been aggressive in promoting Big Solar in the desert; and local membership, with many members advocating for both the environmental integrity of the Mojave and meaningful representation for desert communities. Smaller local groups have felt shut out of the process and are unhappy with the big nationals insisting they speak for the "environmental community".
These environmentalists favor "distributed generation," like solar panels on rooftops, and they argue that the leadership of national environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council has gone in the wrong direction.
Terry Frewin, the chairman of the Sierra Club's California/Nevada desert committee, wrote to the club's executive director, Carl Pope, in July, criticizing him for backing large-scale solar projects. "Remote solar arrays destroy all native resources onsite, and have indirect and irreversible impacts on surrounding wildernesses," Mr. Frewin wrote. He urged the Sierra Club to embrace distributed generation as an alternative to the "industrial renewable" option.
Carl Zichella, Western renewable projects director for the Sierra Club, said in response to the letter, "We don't take a back seat to anyone in caring for the desert." But he said the group's position was unchanged.
Read the full article here.
MORE INFO ON THIS TOPIC: On the Energy page of the MBCA Website. Previous posts: Energy.
