canndo
Well-Known Member
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. A federal assessment shows more than 3,000 desert tortoises that are threatened with extinction would be disturbed by a California solar project, and up to 700 of the young turtles would be killed during construction.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management assessment released Tuesday is far more than BrightSource Energy Co.'s prediction that an estimated 38 of the rare reptiles would be disturbed by construction at the 5.6-acre Ivanpah Valley site near Primm, Nev.
Questions over the California tortoises highlight tensions in the U.S. between wilderness conservation and the quest for cleaner power.
The dispute is likely to echo for years as more companies seek to develop solar, wind and geothermal plants on land treasured by environmentalists who also support the growth of alternative energy. At issue is what is worth preserving and at what cost, as California pushes to generate more electricity from renewable sources.
Federal officials this month ordered BrightSource to halt construction activity on two-thirds of the project.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110428/ap_on_re_us/us_solar_project_tortoise_2
Our choices grow more and more constrained.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management assessment released Tuesday is far more than BrightSource Energy Co.'s prediction that an estimated 38 of the rare reptiles would be disturbed by construction at the 5.6-acre Ivanpah Valley site near Primm, Nev.
Questions over the California tortoises highlight tensions in the U.S. between wilderness conservation and the quest for cleaner power.
The dispute is likely to echo for years as more companies seek to develop solar, wind and geothermal plants on land treasured by environmentalists who also support the growth of alternative energy. At issue is what is worth preserving and at what cost, as California pushes to generate more electricity from renewable sources.
Federal officials this month ordered BrightSource to halt construction activity on two-thirds of the project.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110428/ap_on_re_us/us_solar_project_tortoise_2
Our choices grow more and more constrained.