Interior Approves More Desert Destruction; Ignores Sustainable Alternatives
The Department of Interior yesterday announced final approval for three poorly sited renewable energy projects in America's southwestern deserts that will destroy and industrialize nearly 40 square miles of public lands -- an area larger than the island of Manhattan, and almost as much land area as the City of San Francisco . None of this destruction is necessary since renewable energy can be more efficiently and more sustainably located in our cities or on already-disturbed lands. As KCET reported, California has installed 1,500 megawatts of rooftop solar -- an energy output nearly equivalent to three Reid Gardner coal plants. Elsewhere, solar companies are building hundreds of megawatts of solar on already-disturbed lands, such as agricultural fields. Renewable energy offers us the alternative to preserve wildlands, but the Department of Interior ignored this alternative when it approved the following three projects: Searchlight Wind The Searchlight W...