Mojave Desert Blog

Today's hearing on Capitol Hill regarding the Obama administration's ill-fated investment of taxpayer money in the solar company Solyndra is an expected outcome from a misguided policy focused on creating quick jobs rather than smart investments.  That does not mean that solar is dead, and it does not mean that we should stop supporting innovation and development in our solar industry.  We need to look at our renewable energy needs and ask ourselves what will be driving investment and public support 20 years from now and what policies will get us there, not just what can make headlines tomorrow. What has been unfolding in America's southwestern deserts since 2009 -- rushed approvals for destructive solar facilities on public land creating only a handful of permanent jobs -- were symptoms of the same political myopia and hasty decisions that came back to bite administration officials at today's hearing.  Obama's footprint in the desert is a clear sign that the Whi

Get out of your car, and take a closer look at the desert and you'll be amazed and inspired by the life here.  Each plant is a triumph of life's persistence and adaptability.  Lizards, snakes, tortoises, moths, butterflies, beetles, kangaroo rats, shrews, raptors, vultures, owls, bobcats, bighorn sheep.  I wish I could spy them all, but mother nature does not make it easy.  Even in the heat of the day, though, all of the telltale signs are there -- tracks in the sand, burrows big and small, the withering remains of a spring bloom, scat, and owl pellets. A great blog that captures the beauty and elusiveness of some of the desert's majesty is The Rare Plant Treasure Hunt .  Check it out for some great photos and adventures! This photo by Amber Swanson at The Rare Plant Treasure Hunt blog shows a bear poppy ( Arctomecon merriamii) in the eastern Mojave Desert. What a beauty, and its scarcity must have made it all the more joyous to stumble upon!

The White House announced today that it would retreat on its pledge to implement clean air rules, and will revisit the idea of healthy breathing in 2013.  The media has characterized the reaction from environmental groups as surprised and appalled.   However, looking at Obama's record--even his support for clean energy--shows he is following an "all of the above" policy that maximizes the exploitation of natural resources for profit. Obama's Secretary of Energy this week signaled his tacit support for the Keystone XL oil pipeline , carrying some of the dirtiest crude from tar sands in Canada straight to the United States.  In August, The President approved the sale of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, just over a year after the horrible BP oil spill there.  Those leases could produce more oil than the Keystone pipeline could carry in one year. In March, Obama approved the sale of coal leases in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.  Four large tracts of l

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Wednesday hosted a public meeting to discuss one of two solar projects that would be built in the Ivanpah Valley by First Solar Inc, drawing concerned citizens who expressed deep frustrations with a misguided renewable energy policy.   Desert experts and conservation advocates in attendance presented an alternative proposal to designate much of the valley as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in order to protect a crucial genetic linkage for the threatened desert tortoise and habitat for rare plants and other wildlife.   The full ACEC petition can be viewed at Basin and Range Watch's website .   Many citizens at the meeting have long called for distributed solar generation (such as rooftop solar), or placing solar facilities on lands that are already disturbed instead of on ecologically intact areas such as the Ivanpah Valley. Ivanpah Valley, with the Clark Mountains in the background. The two projects proposed by First S

Political officials and energy industry executives gathered in Las Vegas today to discuss renewable energy policy at the National Clean Energy Summit (NCES).  Many of the headline speakers at NCES were focused on the country's most vexing issue, jobs, with just a very thin veneer of "green" to make it seem like they were talking about something new.     The overall tone of NCES was disappointingly dismissive of the proven dangers of Big Solar and Wind energy, with few voices reminding the attendees that all Big Energy--even solar and wind--exact a toll on the environment.  The reluctance of national leaders to acknowledge the ecological impact that their policy will have on the land is not much different than political candidates denying the science behind climate change. The NCES website was adorned with an image of a large transmission line pylon, and the image of a towering white turbine occasionally flashed on the screen for streaming video coverage of the confe

Fiddleneck blooms and Joshua Tree limbs reach for the sky at Saddleback Butte State Park in the western Mojave Desert.

Three environmental groups--the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and Natural Resources Defense Council--threatened to take legal action in Federal court against the Department of Interior's approval of the Calico solar power project, urging instead that it be built on already-disturbed lands.   The challenge represents the most significant step taken by these environmental groups to establish principles in what has otherwise been a rush by the Obama administration to industrialize public lands in the name of "green" energy.  The nearly 7 square-mile Calico project would jeopardize key habitat in the central Mojave Desert for several imperiled species, including bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, burrowing owls, and the small-flowered androstephium.  The groups argue that although solar energy is necessary to reduce CO2 emissions, "utility-scale renewable energy sources and related transmission facilities on federal lands can threaten serious and widespread impac