The MBCA Board of Directors heard a
presentation by Seth Shteir of the National Parks Conservation Association last
Thursday, and agreed to formally oppose another inappropriately placed solar
project, the Soda Mountains Project that borders the Mojave National
Preserve. As you are well
aware, MBCA is in favor of renewable energy projects, but not industrial-scale
solar projects on lands that host endangered species and unspoiled desert. Large projects should only be on
already-disturbed lands, and rooftop solar and locally distributed generation
(DG) are the real way forward.
As David Lamfrom, California Desert
Senior Program Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, wrote in
his comments on the DRECP:
Lands such as those proposed for the Soda Mountains
project should not be included within the DRECP because of identified importance
to bighorn sheep migration, landscape connectivity, proximity to Mojave National
Preserve, and hydrologic connection to MC Spring, a location utilized for the
recovery of the listed Mojave Tui-Chub.
Two members of the MBCA Board of
Directors, Claudia Sall and Ruth Rieman, are also Board members of the
California Desert Coalition, and are meeting with the San Bernardino County
Supervisors to educate them about renewable energy issues in the Morongo Basin
and the County. Issues include
County input on the DRECP (there will be a meeting in Yucca Valley this
fall—date to follow shortly), the County moratorium on energy development in
residential neighborhoods, and updating the County General Plan to include
appropriate renewable energy language.
