Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region.
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“The Catellus lands were purchased with nearly $45 million in private funds and $18 million in federal funds and donated to the federal government for the purpose of conservation, and that commitment must be upheld. Period,” Mrs. Feinstein said in a statement.
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Her intervention in the Mojave means it will be more difficult for California utilities to achieve a goal, set by the state, of obtaining a third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020; projects in the monument area could have supplied a substantial portion of that power.“This is arguably the best solar land in the world, and Senator Feinstein shouldn’t be allowed to take this land off the table without a proper and scientific environmental review,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the environmentalist and a partner with a venture capital firm that invested in a solar developer called BrightSource Energy. In September, BrightSource canceled a large project in the monument area.
Union officials, power industry executives, regulators and some environmentalists have also expressed concern about the impact of the monument legislation, but few would speak publicly for fear of antagonizing one of California’s most powerful politicians.
What else does “conservation” mean except getting off oil/coal/carbon and onto solar/renewable?
Its understandable: this general corruption driven by lining one’s own pocketbook, but the corruption of mind numbing stupidity, shortsightedness, and complete separation from reality is fit only for the religious types.
PLEASE – – – – ANYONE – – – – Restore my faith in the constancy of government greed based corruption by revealing/restated just what Feinsteins economic interest is in keeping scrub land devoid of any value?
I saw this earlier today, and my first reaction was similar to UD’s.
I then thought about how I’d feel if I’d donated money to keep land undeveloped, and it was turned over to developers anyway. And, after reading the article, it looks like there is other open desert land available- just in areas more inconvenient to developers (i.e. it can be done- just not as cheaply).
Kennedy’s motivation seems to be openly displayed here. How does Feinstein profit by this move?
#2, How does Feinstein profit by this move?
She’s waiting to be offered a seat on the board with really nice stock options first.
I only read the article once but I did not catch where it referenced “it looks like there is other open desert land available- just in areas more inconvenient to developers.” What it did say is that “land already disturbed should be used for solar development and suggested farm land be used.
Seems like an open admission that government is going to have to start choosing==open scrub land that people just drive by, farm land to grow food, or areas for solar development. Let’s see now, where would my own priorities go????
Philosophically, is it better for the government to use eminent domain to TAKE private property or to use land they already own for some other purpose?
Why allow the dead hand of some version of history to control when the article admits that conservation includes moving to solar???
Yea, lets not change and innovate in a reasonable responsible way, lets keep our head in the sand and only do what we are forced to do.
These matters should be decided by private property owners. If the owner of the land decides that it is profitable and beneficial to use it for wind farms, condos, shopping centers, or even roller coasters, then that is what he/she will decide. After all, it’s their property.
But once land is transferred into public hands (in other words, no one specifically owns it) then using the land to satisfy urgent (i.e. profitable) demands goes out the window.
Instead, bureacracy, red tape, and favor-granting take the front seat.
I can just see it now, rip up everything in the name of saving it? come on people think about it. How would this “green” stuff be any better then any other power plant? it wouldn’t it would just be more roads and more concrete and more plastic crap in the desert, and don’t forget all the fastfood places that would pop up to feed the workers, then all the houses they would build to house the workers then all the mini-malls they would need to buy more plastic crap from china.
is baby rfk supporting wind power in sight of the Kennedy compound?
I swear that these environmentalist will not be satisfied until 90% of the population is dead and the rest of us are living in caves. Of course, they will exempt themselves from that requirement.
It makes sense to build solar plants and wind farms and even geo-thermal plants, but that will never be possible until we rein in the environmentalist who want us regular people to be surfs living in squalor around Al Gore’s mansion.
#7 – nailed it. As soon as RFK says he’ll build a windmill in the Kennedy compound then he can start criticizing the other NIMBYs.
Grow up. We can have open space and industry with a little planning. Don’t start complaining that one eliminates the other.
For every potential option, there will be an environmental group that won’t like it because of their specific interest. Wind power, what about the effects on migratory birds, hydroelectric, what about the fish, nuclear power, what about the wastes, solar, but what about the beautiful desert animals, exploit fossil fuels ie natural gas etc, but its environmentally unfriendly. Every resource and I mean every resource will have an environmental impact. No one option will solve the problem as somebody will always be unhappy. A combination of wise use and conservation is what is needed. But as my ecology professor told me over 20 years ago people are stupid, so the simple answer will be avoided in favor of convenience.
>> Benjamin said, on December 22nd, 2009 at 8:12 am
>> I swear that these environmentalist will not be satisfied until 90% of the population is dead and the rest of us are living in caves.
What a load of crap.
The environmentalists are trying to SAVE the planet as we know it — and your ass as well.
It’s the climate change deniers who are demanding upheaval, death and suffering on a unprecedented, gigantic scale.
http://tinyurl.com/ycktxsg
http://tinyurl.com/qnlnpa (It’s started already!)
What about all the Green Jobs Stretch has promised us all????
#12: Why don’t you just go hide you head under a rock and wait for your ass to burn off?
Those big desert solar plants are nothing like the nice little panels you put on a roof. They consume HUGE amounts of water, just like a coal, gas, or nuke plant… That is a major problem.
The natural path of our tyrannical leaders like Feinstein and group is to overplay their hand.
The billions they steal using the “green scam” will do them no good. Let’s just say it will be difficult for them to spend all their ill-gotten gains hanging from the town square.
The people are slow to anger, but rest assured when the new and higher taxes begin hitting “the people” from every avenue the politicians will be a swingin’.
#12: Few people are denying that climate change is happening. It’s been happening ever since there was a climate on Earth. Up, down. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. The question is, has human activity changed it? Some say a lot, some say none, some say in between. And some pick and choose stats that support a point of view as scare tactics so they can make money.
Fienstein’s just pulling a Liberman, he who can stop a thing controls a thing, and the influence gained is as good as money in the bank. I’d line ’em all up against the wall.
Senator Feinstein clearly needs something better to occupy her time. Hum, seems like the USA has a lot of real problems she could be attending to.
Anyone who has ever driven I-15 or I-40 east of Barstow knows that there are miles and miles and miles and miles of vacant desert out there. It is NOT in short supply, and “preserving” part of it is just plain silly. There is already a huge Mojave desert federal reserve.
Knowing Feinstein for the fascist that she is, I too suspect that there is some form of huge cash payout for her pushing this thing. She really ought to go back to being mayor of San Francisco, which she was reasonably good at. Maybe we can get Gavin Newsom to run for senate??
Senator Feinstein is just another California cunt like Pelosi.
#4- hehehe, you got me there Bobbo. The phrase “it looks like there is other open desert land available- just in areas more inconvenient to developers” doesn’t appear in the article. However, it is the the whole reason Kennedy et. al. are raising a ruckus about this. If this weren’t so, the headline would be “Feinstein- Green when convenient and no one cares.”
I’m just guessing, at 22000 sq. miles, there’s a million acres available out there. To quote Stephen Kline of PG&E, “Over time those projects will be built somewhere else and we’ll have benefits of the power.”
Undeveloped? Have you actually seen it?
It’s just dirt!
Hmmmm, How about Nevada?
There probably is a good story about the Mojave and who controls what…
How about lining Death Valley with a solar plant?
Oh! No! its so precious!!! (it’s more dirt)
#21 no bill its not dirt its cryptogamic soil. When I received by undergrad degree my summer job was to keep over watch on the installation of a natural gas pipeline. Cyptogamic soil is a crust formed by tiny plant roots. Its vital to the maintaining of the ecology of the desert. When disturbed the “dirt” underneath is essentially a fine dry dust, which will blow away with the slightest breeze. Now to be honest am I severely concerned about cryptogamic soil. Nope, but somebody will be. See my previous comment #11.
I paid taxes for leadership and I got this fuckwad Feinstein, again.
#2
Umm,
and how do you DEVELOPE a nature reserve?? A natural environment??
there is only 10% of this planet that is arable. LOCATIONS that can grow food.
Lets see, SHE wants a monument? WHAT MONUMENT? Its been 10 years and nothing has even STARTED.
WHO has ever been out in a REAL desert?? 1 time per year, YOU MIGHT get rain. rest of the seasons you are looking for SHADOW/SHADE..
The solar and Wind WONT take up ALL 1 million acres.
#8 – The ecotards won’t be happy until we’re living in the woods naked eating nothing but our own turd.
We’re being told that we need to give up everything that makes life worth living (SUVs, big houses, urban sprawl, big TVs, etc.) to stop
Dammit, I didn’t hit “Submit”. Grrr….
We’re being told that we need to give up everything that makes life worth living (SUVs, big houses, urban sprawl, big TVs, etc.) to stop AGW – so what’s wrong with sacrificing conservation areas to develop “green” power?
27,
NOT GIVE UP..
make things LAST LONGER, that have a resale or you can keep/repair FOREVER..like the OLD DAYS.
Find alternatives(they are oit there) to FUELS and things that DONT degrade.