Quick quiz for you. The number one enemy of solar and wind energy projects in the Mojave desert is a) Big Business b) Dick Cheney c) a Republican "cabal" d) environmentalists, with the political backing of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
Of course, the answer is d).
But here's, perhaps, the surprising part. The Los Angeles Times has the story (emphasis mine) in its March 25 paper:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Reporting from Washington -- While President Obama has made development of cleaner energy sources a priority, an effort is underway to close off a large swath of the Southern California desert to solar and wind energy projects.
In a move that could pit usual allies -- environmentalists and the solar and wind industries -- against each other, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is preparing legislation that would permanently put hundreds of thousands of acres of desert land off limits to energy projects. The territory would be designated California's newest national monument.
[...]
"It's frustrating. We really do have competing national priorities here," said Paul Whitworth, whose San Diego-based LightSource Renewables hopes to put in a solar project on about 6,000 acres near Amboy. "We spent a lot of time researching the desert, and consulting with the BLM to make sure we didn't apply on top of an area of critical environmental concern, or area with other issues. . . . Now, there's uncertainty on whether these projects will go ahead."
"What we all know about Sen. Feinstein is that she's long been a champion for both environmental issues and renewable energy issues," said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-scale Solar Assn. "I'm certainly hoping that there's some pathway that we can find here to meet the mutual goals we all have."
A representative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who has fought congressional actions to close off areas to oil and gas drilling questioned where energy projects would be built, if not in the remote desert.
"If you're going to take the desert away from us, where are you going to allow it -- Los Angeles?," said Bill Kovacs, the chamber's vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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This sounds like the nuklar
March 25, 2009 - 16:29 ET by Dan The Man 2This sounds like the nuklar plant problem all over where the enviros kill off teh projects.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
The solution: turn off
March 25, 2009 - 16:40 ET by lnthompThe solution: turn off the power to the home and office of everyone who insists we don't need more energy resources, so the rest of us can get on with our lives. I wonder how long they would keep protesting if we could do that?
[edit] and while we're at it, take away their cars and don't let them (especially Feinstein) fly except in business class on full commercial jets.
Lee T / USN(ret) / Oregon City, OR
When responsible people make mistakes, responsible people bear the burden. When irresponsible people make mistakes, responsible people bear the burden. -- UserFriendly.org, 2/12/2009
State Responsibility
March 25, 2009 - 17:22 ET by slickwillie2001A more palatable solution might be to, in effect, allow states to collect 'export duties' from exported electricity. That way a state that allows nuclear power plants, or has the good fortune to have hydro opportunities, or allows wind farms etc, get some benefit if them produce more than they need for themselves. The states with a NIMBY attitude still get their power but at a higher price.
Now do the same for states that produce coal, natural gas, and oil.
Pesky constitutional interstate commerce issues though.
This doesn't seem possible
March 25, 2009 - 16:55 ET by jdhawkThis doesn't seem possible until you realize that the environmental wackos want no humans to "pollute" the planet. The best to get there short of genocide, in their minds, is limit the available land for human use. The way to do that is keep everything that is already government controlled in the hands of government. That amounts to some 30% of the land mass of the US. In California alone that amounts to nearly half of all land or 45% that is controlled by the government. In neighboring Nevada, 85% of the land is controlled by the government.
In the minds of environmental wackos all humans are evil and the planet would be alot better off without them. Viva la Mother Earth; down with all bipeds!
Interesting that all of a
March 25, 2009 - 16:52 ET by RR GOPInteresting that all of a sudden that desert is worthy of being deemed a 'national monument'...did John Muir and Aldo Leopold propose that way back when?
Ever get the feeling these Communists are placing our balls in a vice?
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
This action will raise the price of OIL
March 25, 2009 - 17:04 ET by upcountrywaterThis State seizure of public lands,along with Federally seized lands. Makes so much harder to mine for raw materials...
Nice way to head towards surfdom.
President Bush , caused the price of oil to fall.
This action sez LOUD AND CLEAR bye bye cheep energy...
P.R.I.N.T. Money 30 sec YT
"But can it core a apple?"
March 25, 2009 - 17:08 ET by SickofLibsWhat idiot came up with the lamebrained idea of putting solar arrays in the desert, where the sun is the most intense?
And putting wind generators in the windiest ocean corridor off the Massachusetts coast, where The Cape Cod Orca and Reporting-For-Duty Kerry sail?
This sounds like a Kramden-Norton scheme.
PAC's and Lobbyists
March 25, 2009 - 17:20 ET by RpeggioWhy would Feinstein fight against wind and solar energy in the desert? Seems crazy right? Well, just take a look at her political election checking account and I guarantee you'll see she's been bought by environmentalist PAC's and Lobbyists. All of our Congressmen and Senators can be bought by the highest contributor, even when it seems to fly in the face of logic.
Yep...I've been following
March 25, 2009 - 17:21 ET by bigtimerYep...I've been following this in the House...you should have heard it today...I will go berserk if I even try to post all the destructive leftist loonies are doing, besides this, one way or the other they are going to shut down any kind of farming etc in Ca. they are not allowing any pumps/hauling of water in the San Joaquin Valley and area (plus I know they are already doing this on th high desert in So. Cal from a lawsuit that is going on that involves my property)...and goodness only knows where all else...plus I won't even go into all the federal land grab they have taken for so-called environs/National Parks, the acreage is staggering.
I listened for about three hours that is all I could take...
I'm telling you folks...we are so forked.
Ken I am glad you posted this blog info...people in the cities do not realize this is going to affect them too...sooner or later, and Ca. won't be the only state I'm sure before they are through.
I also heard today some of the power they are going to give the head of the interior dept. to circumvent states like Alaska and elsewhere for some other matters too..it is downright maddening,we are under siege the likes of which we have never seen...and this is just the beginning...they know the majority of people do not pay attention to how laws are made/enforced until it affects them.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breadboard
Put it in my backyard!
March 25, 2009 - 18:53 ET by lbcdawnThe left is trying to wreck our economy and weaken this nation
March 25, 2009 - 17:32 ET by R D HelmAs such, plentiful energy supplies are not on their menu.
And no, they don't care if low income Americans have to shell out $5 bucks for a gallon of gas.
-Dave
This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.
Dave... Yep...that is
March 25, 2009 - 17:41 ET by bigtimerDave...
Yep...that is their very intention as some of us know...just like some if the issues I posted above.
Heck, O said he wants gas prices as high as they were a bit back, which they will eventually be at again if not exceed them.
Agenda for the enemy...hard at work.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Yup Dave
March 25, 2009 - 18:11 ET by RpeggioI've made that argument with some of my star-crossed Obama-luvin' friends. Obama isn't for drilling for our own oil here, not even offshore, not for coal, not for Nukes....and the green substitutes aren't apparent or ready to take the place of fossil fuels, thus until those green resources are invented and cheap-enough for the masses, gasoline and home heating fuels will go up up up in the coming few years, hurting his own lower income constituency more by % of their disposable income than any other demographic! That just kills me....poor folks keep supporting Obama while they don't realize his green or be damned energy policies will cause huge increases in gas and home heating fuel in the mean-time....rich people can swallow $4/gallon gas or $280 heating bills easily, but middle and lower income classes can't. I don't know why people don't wake-up and demand energy independence by any means (oil/coal/gas/wind/solar etc.) and push towards green sources as we move along through subsidies and tax breaks. Unreal and just blows my mind that the media or Obama-lovers won't see that future he has in store for them, for us. Obama himself has been quoted as saying he's ok with $4/gallon gas, because it'll make the more expensive green sources more viable....on the backs of Americans at the pump!!!
"...some of my star-crossed
March 25, 2009 - 20:53 ET by R D Helm"...some of my star-crossed Obama-luvin' friends."
LOL-Yeah, I have a few of those, too.
-Dave
This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.
I agree with the poster
March 25, 2009 - 17:57 ET by mostlymoderateI agree with the poster above. Obviously Feinstein has been paid by the environmental lobbyists. This is politics as we know it: whether Repubican or Democrat, politicians can be paid for by the highest bidder although it seems the Democrats have mastered the practice lately.
NIMBY trumps eco-Nazi every time
March 25, 2009 - 18:04 ET by wizardjrHaven't you noticed that all these 'enviromentalist' pols always jump back and pull out their NIMBY talisman to ward of actually having to put up with whatever insane crap the eco-Nazis want the rest of us to suffer with? Can you say Martha's Vineyard?
Good Call! It's true. I
March 25, 2009 - 18:11 ET by mostlymoderateGood Call! It's true. I also assume that a lot of extremely wealthy liberals have purchased property in the desert for their 10 bedroom homes and they don't want to clutter up the views with solar panels and windmills. These are the same people that will purchase beach-front homes and then try to limit public access to the beaches. Liberal elitists are the scariest so-and-so's you can imagine when they are given money.
Let's all pray that the
March 25, 2009 - 18:22 ET by Clear thinkerLet's all pray that the left devours itself.
T-Baggers Helper
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
Ct.... I am! Doubling
March 25, 2009 - 18:40 ET by bigtimerCt....
I am!
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Wind and Solar Power are useless
March 25, 2009 - 19:47 ET by PopularTechThey are not market competitive with Coal, Natural Gas or Nuclear, which is where we get all of our electricity from.
Wind has to be heavily subsidized to come close and Solar is not even in the ball park. Both technologies are unreliable, expensive and consume large amounts of land.
- Wind Power is Expensive (Energy Tribune)
- Wind Power is Unreliable (Reuters)
- Wind Power represents only 0.3% of all energy consumed in the United States (EIA)
- Wind Farms are Eyesores (Daily Mail, UK)
- Wind Farms affect Weather Patterns (The New York Times)
- Wind Farms interfere with Radar (BBC)
- Wind Farms produce Noise Pollution (The Daily Telegraph, UK)
- Wind Farms Kill Bats (University of Calgary)
- Wind Farms Kill Birds (USA Today)
- Wind Turbines are Dangerous (The New York Times)
- Wind Turbines shut off in low (-8 mph) and high (+50 mph) winds (GE)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
Feinstein is probably just
March 26, 2009 - 00:34 ET by snaggletoothieFeinstein is probably just creating a bargaining chip for something she really wants.
I wonder how many of these clowns have ever been to Amboy
March 26, 2009 - 06:32 ET by JohnMcGrewPassed through once. Other than a cinder cone-crater and some mining, there's not much going on. Solar panels might actually be an improvement.
Dianne Feinstein=War Profiteer
March 26, 2009 - 08:51 ET by celatorDiane Feinstein, hmmm. Oh yes, I remember now.
She's the fanatic liberal who got caught red-handed directing millions in defense constracts to her husband's defense constracting companies.
She resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (she was chair from 2001-2005) once her little secret got out.) Oh she must have been mad! Stomped her foot a lot.
Just wanted to remind people of what a fine Congresswoman she is.
Here's the story:
http://www.lewrockwe...
Gosh, I wonder how the Ethic Committee is coming on that investigation? Waiting. Waiting. Old Media, how's that story coming along?
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property are safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
celator,
March 26, 2009 - 09:41 ET by R D HelmFeinstein has that coveted get-out-of-jail-free card. Its the (D) behind her name.
If she were a republican, she would be under the jail right now.
-Dave
This coup has gone on long enough. The time to put it down is NOW.
Dave.....Yup.. she does
March 26, 2009 - 12:18 ET by celatorDave.....Yup.. she does have that card. And she uses it!
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property are safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Roof tops people, roof tops...
March 26, 2009 - 09:12 ET by TaserCatI'm not opposed to all desert developments. But yes, many solar farms SHOULD be in the cities where the power is going. It makes sense. That's where the demand is. Why have 100 mile powerlines that lose energy along the way? The deserts are not the solution.
And anyone who's driven through L.A. knows there are miles and miles of industrial parks with flat topped buildings you could easily convert roofs to solar farms. Put the equipment on those roof tops. You will eliminate the need for lengthy transmission corridors that destroy views and lose power along the way.
You will also save desert ecosystems that actually do have a number of rugged plants and animals that survive in already harsh conditions. Contrary to what people might think while driving by at 70 miles an hour. To scrape the desert soil for these projects will destroy plant and animal habitat that will take centuries to repair. Patton tank tracks are still scraped into the bare desert soil east of Palm Springs.
It makes sense to put the power farms where they're going to be used, in the cities. Roof tops people, roof tops...