Webcast May Be Available for CDPA 2010 Hearing; No Witnesses Scheduled Yet

According to the website for the Senate's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which is conducting a hearing on 20 May to consider Senator Feinstein's proposed California Desert Protection Act of 2010 (CDPA 2010 or S.2921), the Committee currently does not have any witnesses lined up to testify for or against the legislation.   Obviously this could change over the next couple of weeks and I'll keep you posted.

It appears that the Committee regularly provides live webcasts--or at least archived webcasts--of its hearings.  Although this means West Coasters will need to wake up at 6:30AM, it will spare you the flight to DC!    Here is the link for the Committee website and you can find the "live webcast" button on the right side of their page at the bottom of the list of options.

For more information about the California Desert Protection Act--which aims to balance conservation of America's desert wilderness, and streamline renewable energy generation--check out the Campaign for the California Desert website.  The legislation would bring common sense to what is currently a disorganized "gold rush" by developers to bulldoze vast tracts of the desert,  trading the quiet solitude that has inspired generations of Americans for endless miles of industrialization and sprawl.  There is room for solar energy in the desert, and some projects have been correctly placed on land that is of little biological value.  Senator Feinstein's legislation would encourage such choices and push developers and government agencies to adopt a smarter approach to our dwindling desert resources.

Here is the entry in the Committee's calendar regarding plans to conduct a full hearing on the legislation:


FULL COMMITTEE HEARING: to receive testimony on S. 2921, to provide for the conservation, enhanced recreation opportunities, and development of renewable energy in the California Desert Conservation Area, to require the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain offices to serve as Renewable Energy Coordination Offices for coordination of Federal permits for renewable energy projects and transmission lines to integrate renewable energy development, and for other purposes (Hearing Room SD-366).
Thursday, May 20, 2010
09:30 AM
Energy Committee Hearing Room - SD-366


Comments

  1. MorongobillMay 14, 2010 at 7:26 AM

    This is a great idea and helps provide transparency to our government process.
    But I wish the backroom brawling and deal-making
    would be shown as well. Now that would be high political theater!

    Shaun, do you know if any of the various state
    hearings, like the CEC proceedings, are ever webcast? I believe I'd be willing to pay a little even for that.

    Regarding your comment that the desert is big enough for some solar(I'm paraphrasing and hopefully fairly), we are in agreement on that.
    Thoughtfully placed plants on used up land, of which there are plenty of acres available, and
    properly vetted and not rushed through like there is no tomorrow, absolutely.

    Keep up the great work, sir!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shaun G.May 18, 2010 at 7:41 PM

    Thanks Bill...I do believe you can call in to a teleconference for the CEC hearings, although they are not webcast. Perhaps something to suggest to the Public Advisor's office in the CEC.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Many Plants Species in the Desert?

Would you expect that California's desert hosts gives the redwood forest a run for its money when it comes to plant biodiversity?  It's easy to take the desert for granted when all you want to do is zoom through it on the highway and get to your destination. But you are passing by an amazing and biologically diverse ecosystem.  There are at least 2,450 native plant species found in California's desert, according to a great article by Chris Clarke on desert life , posted at KCET. If you want to learn more about our amazing deserts, join Desert Biodiversity, a new organization dedicated to exploring, respecting and defending the deserts.
Read more

Mowing Vegetation as Mitigation: Trump Administration Practice Goes Unchallenged

Image
The Trump administration is again touting the practice of mowing thousands of acres of desert vegetation as environmentally-responsible, despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.  The draft environmental review of the Yellow Pine Solar project in southern Nevada claims that vegetation mowing - as opposed to bulldozing - will yield positive outcomes that are highly doubtful.   This positive framing of the construction practice misleads the public and decisionmakers and ignores decades of scientific research regarding the impacts of mechanized disturbance on desert wildlands.  According to the draft environmental review: "Mowing is becoming the standard on large site-type ROWs to prevent permanent impairment of public lands (as mandated by FLPMA) and in lieu of off-site mitigation... Mowing methods are designed to help preserve soils, biological soil crusts, soil seed banks, native perennial vegetation diversity and structure, and cacti and yucca species, and to resist
Read more

The Absurdity of the Cadiz Water Export Scheme

Image
The Department of Interior this month reversed a policy to make it easier for the Cadiz company to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient Mojave Desert aquifer - killing off natural springs that wildlife depend upon - to ship that water to the lush landscaping of Orange County.   Cadiz still has other hurdles in its way, but the company's tenacity and willingness to line the pockets of politicians could spell doom for Mojave wildlife. Cadiz Calls it Conservation The Cadiz company has a contract to export nearly 16.3 billion gallons (yes, that is billion with a 'b') a year for 50 years from the Mojave to the Santa Margarita Water District ( SMWD ) in Orange County.  The Cadiz company claims that it will only pump water that would otherwise evaporate from a dry lake bed and that the aquifer will naturally recharge from rainfall, leaving no significant impacts on wildlife or groundwater levels.  According to Cadiz propaganda, this isn't a water export sche
Read more