Ivanpah Valley: Before And After

Basin and Range Watch has posted photographs of the Ivanpah Valley, before and after BrightSource Energy began bulldozing old growth desert vegetation there.  I have copied a couple of the photos below, but check out the Basin and Range Watch site for a full report and aerial photos.  Sadly, these photos only represent the initial phase of construction, and several more square miles will be destroyed for the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System.  During this initial phase construction workers have displaced 40 endangered desert tortoises.

You can read a previous post on another energy company's plans to add to the destruction of the Ivanpah Valley.  First Solar Inc plans to built two massive facilities on nearly 15 square miles of prime tortoise habitat-- the Stateline and Silver State solar projects.

Photo from Basin and Range Watch

Photo from Basin and Range Watch website

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