Conservation group sues to stop California solar plant

[cycloneman]

1. We cant drill here for oil.

2. Cant have nuclear

3. Cant have ethenol cause it is hurting food prices

4. Cant have wind power cause the Kennedys dont like it

5. Now you cant have solar

Pretty soon you cant have candle light.

What is the matter with these people?


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70G0V420110118



(Reuters) - A U.S. conservation group has sued the federal government over its approval of a major solar power plant in the California desert, the latest in a string of challenges to the nation's renewable energy goals from the environmental community.

According to court papers, the non-profit Western Watersheds Project alleged U.S. regulators approved Brightsource Energy's 370-megawatt Ivanpah solar energy plant without conducting adequate environmental reviews, and asked the court to order the defendants to withdraw their approvals.

The complaint names the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the agencies' heads and other staffers, as defendants. None was immediately available for comment.

"In an ill-conceived rush to accommodate massive renewable energy projects ... the federal defendants precipitously approved unnecessarily destructive energy development of the California Desert Conservation Area without first conducting adequate environmental reviews."

The complaint said the project's approval process failed to analyze and mitigate the Ivanpah plant's impact on migratory birds, the desert tortoise, which is a threatened species under federal law, desert bighorn sheep, groundwater resources and rare plants.

Oakland, California-based Brightsource has taken measures to assuage environmentalists' concerns about the project. In October, the privately held company reached a deal with litigious environmental group The Center for Biological Diversity to acquire thousands of acres of habitat for the desert tortoise and other rare species.

Conflicts between solar proponents and foes are taking on growing importance as the renewable energy industry experiences a boom, particularly in California.

The conflicts have the potential to set back the development of solar energy and derail state and federal commitments to lessening dependence on fossil fuels.

Last month, a group called La Cuna de Aztlan, which represents Native American groups such as the Chemehuevi and the Apache, filed a challenge in federal court to the federal government's approval of six big solar plants -- including Ivanpah.

Western Watersheds filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on January 14, the group said.

Brightsource Energy could not immediately be reached for comment. (Editing by Robert Birsel)

[Carne Frio]

Federal judges need to show some backbone and dismiss these crazy lawsuits.

[obxned]

Why take useful land and make it useless for anything except solar? The normal multiple use of these lands benefits many, while the solar benefits no one. The energy produced cost too much, and still requires mega-bucks of subsidies to even appear as a viable energy source. This pork project may be killed for the wrong reason, but it should be killed.

[Old Grump]

Well come on guys, the mirror array is going to shade the lizards and provide a ambush spot for the rattlesnakes and lord only knows how much damage will be done to the solar system from the plant stealing all that sunlight. The terrible noise of all that noisy machinery will give the poor coyotes nightmares and a butterfly might get in the way of the beams and the collector...oops, poof.

[obxned]

The most horrific sound from the project would be the sound of it sucking up tax payers dollars and still selling electricity at a sky-high price.