Major California Solar Project Facing Possible Challenges
Tuesday, May 25th 2010 11:01 PM
By GetSolar Staff.
As solar power plants have become more common in remote rural areas, they have ended up facing legal challenges from environmentalists concerned about the impact that such development could have on wildlife habitat.
One particularly significant flashpoint for such disputes so far has been California's Mojave Desert. California Senator Dianne Feinstein has even introduced legislation aimed at preventing one protected area of the desert from being used for renewable energy development.
Another high-profile dispute over renewable energy comes from Massachusetts, where opponents of a proposed offshore wind farm have been trying to stop that project in court for nearly a decade.
More recently, a report from California's KTVU-TV notes that a major solar project in the Mojave, the Ivanpah Project, could be delayed or otherwise affect by environmentalist concerns over desert tortoise habitat. The project is being developed by Brightsource.
It remains to be seen if a mutually acceptable solution to this dispute can be worked out or if the matter will be headed to the court system. The television station quoted the CEO of Brightsource, John Woolard, as saying that "Rome is burning and they're trying to take the buckets away from the firefighters."
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As solar power plants have become more common in remote rural areas, they have ended up facing legal challenges from environmentalists concerned about the impact that such development could have on wildlife habitat. 
