The tortoise and the sun

[XemaSab]

As a desert tortoise living in the Mojave Desert, you'd spend much of your coldblooded life catering to the whims of your body temperature.

In the winter, you'd hibernate in one of your several burrows to stay warm. In the summer, you'd also lay low for months on end to keep cool -- a habit called estivation. In the spring and fall, you'd venture out to find a drink of water and wildflowers, such as desert dandelions, to munch on. Mornings, you'd be found sunbathing, basking to warm up, while in the heat of the afternoon you'd park it under a creosote bush to keep cool.

While you and your fore-tortoises would have lived this way for more than 10,000 years, there's some news that could make your so delicately regulated blood boil. You've just become an obstacle in the race to cut the United States' greenhouse gas emissions by bringing industrial-scale solar installations to the California desert. As a desert tortoise that lives in the Mojave Desert, you enjoy protection under the federal Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, as well as state protection, which puts your low-key, dandelion-eating lifestyle at odds with California's urgent need to go solar.

Although you may be the official California state reptile, you may also be a casualty of a new national priority, as President Obama is determined to boost renewable energy in a big way, fast.

http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/01/22/desert_tortoises/index.html

[phantom power]

1. There is no risk free energy.

[phantom power]

2. ...

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. … Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy … pushing for the new desert solar projects …

http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/01/22/desert_tortoises/index.html

…

Yet many environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy, are joining the governor in pushing for the new desert solar projects, arguing that solar needs to get big fast to fight climate change. "We need to develop large amounts of renewable energy quickly so we can ramp down this country's use of coal," says Carl Zichella, the Sierra Club's director of Western renewable programs. "If we don't do that, the environmental consequences for the country and California are unmentionable. We would wind up with a Joshua Tree National Park without Joshua trees. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is predicted to decline by about 80 percent by the end of this century."

…

It's the kind of difficult question the country will continue to face as it works toward an environmentally sound future. For his part, Zichella of the Sierra Club says that blocking large-scale renewable energy projects is not the way to go. "We have to keep a bigger view in mind," he says. "We simply need to change the way we fuel this economy."

[stuntcat]

4. the animals just will not win in the end

our population and all the energy and Stuff we need will ruin more habitats every year

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. If we continue on as we have, they will also lose

That's why environmental groups are backing this sort of construction.

[XemaSab]

6. If we cease all carbon emissions tomorrow

climate change will already be a problem for many species.

I think the focus should be on habitat protection (hoping that species can shift ranges and survive), and NOT on getting Americans to buy more crap.

[OKIsItJustMe]

7. But our entire economy is built on "getting Americans to buy more crap!"

It's my patriotic duty to buy crap! http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:4hFc710YA_4J:https://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-1.html

…

As we work with Congress in the coming year to chart a new course in Iraq and strengthen our military to meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must also work together to achieve important goals for the American people here at home. This work begins with keeping our economy growing. As we approach the end of 2006, the American economy continues to post strong gains. The most recent jobs report shows that our economy created 132,000 more jobs in November alone, and we've now added more than 7 million new jobs since August of 2003.

The unemployment rate has remained low, at 4.5 percent. A recent report on retail sales shows a strong beginning to the holiday shopping season across the country -- and I encourage you all to go shopping more.

…

:patriot: