Unintended Consequences (Part 83,389)

clipped from www.journalgazette.net Congress’ rush to embrace solar power is having some unintended consequences. It will turn over a large chunk of federal land to private energy companies, and it may involve withdrawing billions of gallons of water from sensitive desert habitat. By 2015, Congress wants the Interior and Energy Departments to place, on federal land, renewable energy projects that can generate at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 has set off a frantic land grab as solar and wind energy companies rush to obtain permits for projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. As of mid-March, the Bureau of Land Management had received 158 applications for permits for solar power plants, covering more than 1 million acres of land. Most of the proposed plants are near the border of Arizona, California and Nevada. This area of the Mojave Desert seems perfect for solar power; it’s hot and flat and vast. What the Mojave Desert doesn’t have is water.