Many proposed solar plants are on BLM land, yet would become “private industrial zones” where the public can’t go. In addition, these huge solar power farms would require clearing thousands of acres of land with unpredictable but certainly deleterious impact on the area and its wildlife. California plans to have 33% renewable energy in-state by 2020. Residents then must buy renewable energy (regardless of price) from these solar farms. The ferocious push to build ever more big solar in California seems to me to be primarily about creating captive buyers and little about sustainable and affordable energy.
Blaeloch said she understands the threat of global warming but believes more drastic lifestyle changes will be needed than what the President’s plan requires. Delicate public lands shouldn’t be sacrificed, she said.
The deserts “are as rich as old-growth forests,” Blaeloch said. “They may be a little harsher to be in and to walk in, but they have a huge amount of value to the planet and to species.”