Can Ivanpah Be Saved?
The Department of Interior issued a Record of Decision this week approving two more massive solar projects in the Ivanpah Valley. With this approval, First Solar could begin construction of the Silver State South and Stateline Solar projects as soon as this spring, even though the Fish and Wildlife Service has expressed concern that the projects could destroy a key habitat linkage for the imperiled desert tortoise. Conservation groups have asked Interior and First Solar to consider alternative locations for the project, and Defenders of Wildlife in November warned that it may challenge Interior's review of the projects under the Endangered Species Act. This photo was taken from Metamorphic Hill, looking over the desert habitat that will be destroyed to build the Stateline Solar project. Further in the distance beyond the dry lake bed, First Solar would bulldoze another swath of intact desert to build the Silver State South Solar project. There is no good reason why the