Take Action to Save The Desert

Click here to sign the petition by Solar Done Right calling for a responsible renewable energy future.

As this photo by Chris Clarke shows, energy companies have already begun to bulldoze ecologically intact desert wildlands to make way for massive solar facilities.  Our clean energy future does not need to involve sacrificing more of our natural treasures.
We have a long history of destroying wild landscapes to generate electricity.  Oil spills killing marine life, natural gas wells fragmenting sagebrush habitat and spoiling our groundwater, and coal plants spewing emissions that warm our planet.  We are rightfully looking to renewable energy sources as a better alternative, but we cannot afford to sacrifice more wildlands to energy.  As of December, the Bureau of Land Management had received applications for wind and solar facilities on 1,659 square miles of public land in just California, and yet that would still not be enough to meet the State's energy needs. 

We need a responsible renewable energy policy that prioritizes distributed generation (e.g. rooftop solar), energy conservation, and placing the larger facilities on already-disturbed lands.

Comments

  1. cK.DerekJanuary 31, 2012 at 11:24 PM

    I support this petition because I feel humans have already caused enough loss of biodiversity and degradation to the environment (including this desert). It is unfortunate that many people do not see why preserving what we have left is so vital.

    I do agree renewable energy sources are important, and I am sure they will become more accepted, researched, and implemented. However, I do not see any reason to trade the beneficial possibilities of renewable energy for the detrimental outcomes of destroying habitat and wildlife. These complex ecosystems sustain the earth and make it beautiful.

    I am only going to say a few more points here since this is a comment, not a book. Environmentally-conscious people and energy-related interests CAN find solutions to a) help preserve ecosystems, b) still produce energy that is considered more responsible, and c) ensure these technologies are safe for us, fauna, and flora. Americans have achieved nearly impossible tasks countless times over, and I am sure we can achieve this. Taking action before fully addressing or understanding all the associated consequences is like being in a dangerous experiment in my opinion.

    The statements I mentioned are only one individual's opinion. Feel free to refute or support any of them.

    ReplyDelete

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