"What a crock..."

According to an anonymous poster, this blog's critical look at where we should place utility-scale renewable energy production is unfair to the energy companies.

Anonymous said...
What a crock. You cant win for losing trying to build clean energy projects. Maybe they should just put a dirty oil or coal producing energy company there.

Apparently we should ignore the mistakes of previous generations and jump blindly into whatever profit-seeking companies say is best for us.  Okay Anonymous, let's bulldoze thousands of acres of our wilderness so you can run your dishwasher and TV on so-called "green" energy.

If utility-scale solar energy production that requires thousands of acres for a couple hundred MW of electricity were required to replace all of our coal production, our towns and cities would be sandwiched between vast fields of sun-reflecting mirrors.  Utility-scale solar technology still suffers from inefficiency from an economic scale standpoint, so why should we sacrifice wildlife that has survived centuries for something that has not even proven its worth on this planet?  Surely America's ingenuity can at least find places to put solar panels that do not involve killing hundreds of animals already facing extinction.  Parking lots, rooftops, agriculutral fields, and highway medians, to name a few.

I don't expect every acre of the Mojave to be preserved as it is today for the rest of eternity.  I only ask that we think wisely about our decisions and try to preserve some wilderness for future generations.

Comments

  1. MorongobillAugust 27, 2010 at 6:51 PM

    Spot on as usual, Shawn.

    Everyday it seems, there are articles out there about new advances in putting pv solar everywhere, the VA hospital in Tucson is about to get a parking lot solar system, bus stops now can have solar ontop, it seems everyone but the CEC,BLM, and DOI have this information.

    It seems obvious to me they have closed minds or under the mental control of the renewable energy firms(the big plant ones).

    I agree that we can't expect the Mojave to go through this unscathed, but couldn't they save at least a little for future generations to enjoy?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shaun G.August 29, 2010 at 4:03 AM

    Thanks, Bill! I think I'd feel a lot more comfortable with the CEC decision making process if they defined what their redlines are, and how their plans to increase California's renewable energy portfolio are being reconciled with our conservation goals in the California Deserts.

    ReplyDelete

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