Controversial Mojave solar project abandoned

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/science/earth/19mojave.html?_r=1

A proposed solar energy project in the California desert that caused intense friction between environmentalists and the developers of renewable energy has been shelved.

BrightSource Energy Inc. had planned a 5,130-acre solar power farm in a remote part of the Mojave Desert, on land previously intended for conservation. The company, based in Oakland, Calif., said Thursday that it was instead seeking an alternative site for the project.

The Wildlands Conservancy, a California environmental group, had tried to block the solar development, as had Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who proposed that the area become a national monument.

The land was donated by Wildlands to the Interior Department during the Clinton administration, with assurances from President Bill Clinton himself, the group says, that it would be protected in perpetuity. But the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a Bush administration initiative, opened the land to the development of solar projects

However, in this case I don't think it's too bad, I think that solar and wind should take into account the concerns from environmental groups, though compromises will have to be made eventually. Hopefully they'll find a suitable location and don't shelve their project completely.

biomass
solar
offshore wind
etc

industrial developements in fragile nature preserves. Churlish of them, but that's greenies for you. No consideration for the poor downtrodden capitalist who is simply trying to eke out a modest fortune through the rape and pillage of the environment.

5,000 acres is only about 7 square miles. You could find that just about anywhere.

Plowing over virgin land, even if it is desert, should be a last resort.

in the area.

put something there

Ever been to an abandoned base? They're ridiculous. There are whole abandoned *towns* that could be suitable.