(from Basin & Range Watch) NIGHTMARE SOLAR PROJECT GETS OK FROM MAINSTREAM GREENS

AN EXCERPT:  ‘Now why would the Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Nevada Wilderness Project, the Sierra Club and a host of other Nevada enviros support such a thing when the environmentally friendly alternative is staring them right in the face??? We never have seen such a willful ignorance towards protecting habitat and public lands by the environmental community.’

THE FULL TEXT FROM B&RW:  Looking east towards the 8,000 acre Amargosa Valley Solar Energy Study Zone that the Interior Department has deemed as an appropriate development to the Amargosa Valley, Nevada. The Solar Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States http://solareis.anl.gov/news/index.cfm#fpeis will be released tomorrow with a 30 day protest period. The Amargosa Solar Study Zone will be highly visible. Hundreds to thousands of acre feet of water would be needed to control the dust from scraping up 12 square miles. The community of Amargosa Valley banned an off road race due to the fact that the dust was getting very bad. While the environmental community supported the OHV ban, none of them are saying too much about the solar energy zone. Past nuclear tests on the adjacent Nevada test Site have contaminated the soils. Radon levels are three time the national average. Creating a dust bowl will create health problems. The Solar Energy Zone will be visible from the Death Valley National Park Wilderness. The area supports a genetically unique desert tortoise population. There is also no transmission up there and building a new line would destroy even more public land. Twelve square miles of desert will only produce about 700 MW of energy while Australia just installed 1.7 GW of rooftop solar energy. Now why would the Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Nevada Wilderness Project, the Sierra Club and a host of other Nevada enviros support such a thing when the environmentally friendly alternative is staring them right in the face??? We never have seen such a willful ignorance towards protecting habitat and public lands by the environmental community. Think about it, they are supporting the “all of the above:” energy policy. How will that help climate change when the same Interior Department wants to develop fossil fuel right next to the solar farms?

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