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> Sadly, there appears to be many environmentalists and conservation people against large desert solar arrays claiming it threatens habitat of whatever lives th
by tomjakubowski 9y ago
> Sadly, there appears to be many environmentalists and conservation people against large desert solar arrays claiming it threatens habitat of whatever lives there.
Can you cite a significant environmental group that completely opposes all large desert solar projects for this reason? Otherwise this reads like a rather unfair characterization.
In a recent case [1], the Sierra Club successfully argued that a planned solar array outside Hollister should be made smaller (by about either one half or two thirds, it's not clear why each successive cut was made), due to the potential threat to a handful of endangered species in the area. They also indicated unequivocal support for a similarly sized solar array in Imperial County.
Given how much undeveloped desert land exists in the US Southwest, it seems reasonable to build solar arrays first in areas that won't threaten the habitat of endangered species.
[1]: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/21/giant-solar-project-reduced-due-to-environmentalists-opposition/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/21/giant-solar-project-re...
- Yumz- 9y agoEndangered species need to go extinct. We are committing a high level universal crime by intervening in life's natural hygiene process.
- majewsky 9y agoThat's just as unbalanced a view as "endangered species may never go extinct". The difference is whether they go extinct because of maladaptation to the natural environment or because of maladaptation to human influence on the natural environment. No reasonable person would argue against the first thing, but many argue against the second thing.
- plopz 9y agoAre humans not part of the natural environment?
- wickawic 9y agoIt's a bit disingenuous to call extinction caused by human activity "nature's hygiene process".