Native Americans sue U.S. over solar power plant in desert

[NNadir]

Native Americans sue U.S. over solar power plant in desert


Native American tribe has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to block construction of Tessera Solar's Imperial Valley solar power plant in the Sonoran Desert.

The 709-megawatt solar farm, planned for more than 6,000 acres of public land near El Centro, wrapped up its approval process in October.

Similar stories:
Tribe tries to stop Imperial Valley solar project

A Native American tribe has sued the federal government in an effort to block construction of a solar project planned on 6,000 acres of public land in the Imperial Valley.
The Los Angeles Times reports Thursday that the Quechan tribe alleges that Tessera Solar's project near El Centro could damage "cultural and biological resources of significance."
In a complaint against the Interior Department, the tribe claimed department officials ignored their concerns and rushed through or skipped permitting steps, violating federal law. The solar farm completed its approval process in October.

Scale back solar plant, county report says

An environmental review of one of two large commercial solar farms proposed for California Valley is recommending that the project’s electrical output be reduced by 40 percent to protect the habitat of the giant kangaroo rat, an endangered species living in the area.

The solar company proposing the plant will ask the county to accept a different configuration of the project that it says protects the kangaroo rat but keeps electrical output at its original level.
This week, the county Planning Department released a draft environmental impact report for the California Valley Solar Ranch, a 250-megawatt photovoltaic plant proposed by SunPower Corp. of Richmond.

The solar company SunPower is planning to establish an endangered species conservation area at its proposed 250-megawatt photovoltaic plant in California Valley.

Under the plan, the company would establish a conservation easement on more than 1,000 acres as well as an endowment that would fund preservation activities to protect the giant kangaroo rat and other rare species found in the area, said Brian Boroski, a wildlife ecologist hired by SunPower to set up the conservation area.

“The easement will be in place and the endowment funded before construction,” Boroski said.


Cities and the county should do more to promote solar power and make buildings energy-efficient, which would reduce energy costs and create jobs, the county’s civil grand jury has concluded.
A report by the grand jury urges local governments in the county to invest in solar power — rooftop panels in particular — and energy efficiency.
“To make these gains locally will take a lot more than talk, however,” the report concluded. “Bold leadership is a must.”

But the Quechan tribe alleged in a complaint against the Interior Department that the installation could damage "cultural and biological resources of significance."

The tribe said that department officials ignored Quechan concerns and rushed through or skipped important permitting steps, violating federal law.

State and federal agencies have fast-tracked several major solar projects, aiming to break ground by the end of the year to take advantage of expiring federal stimulus funds.

More than 28,000 SunCatcher solar dishes intended for the site could harm a region known for the flat-tailed horned lizard, which plays a key role in the tribe's creation mythology, the complaint said.

Tessera, which is also moving ahead on a similar installation near Barstow, has agreed to buy 6,600 acres of lizard habitat to offset its activity on the Imperial Valley project.

In a region that has been economically hard hit, the project is expected to create up to 700 jobs during construction along with 160 permanent operation positions.

The Quechan tribe, which has about 3,500 members, is asking a federal judge in San Diego to issue an injunction against the project. For thousands of years, the tribe has lived on a broad sweep of desert crossing from Arizona into Southern California, according to the complaint.

Tessera now joins BrightSource, SunPower and other solar energy companies that have been stymied, if only temporarily, by wildlife concerns on proposed solar farm sites.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/11/04/1356406/native-americans-sue-us-over-solar.html">Native Americans sue U.S. over solar power plant in desert


Note the number of "sun catchers" that are required to build a "700 MW" plnat - using the solar peak capacity fraudulent numbers - that will at best operate at 20% of capacity utilization - making it the equivalent of a 140 MW reliable plant - be backed up by dangerous natural gas replete with dangerous natural gas waste dumping in earth's atmosphere, and will routinely be coated with layers of dust with every Santa Anna wind event, giving "jobs" to window washers working at near minimum wage.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/11/04/1356406/native-americans-sue-us-over-solar.html

[txlibdem]

1. It's time to go all "Mad Max" on these giant Kangaroo Rats

Thunderdome. Two mammals enter, one mammal leaves! Where is Sandahl Bergman and Tina Turner when we need them?!?

Or put a bunch of guys like me out there with shotguns... and Misa Campo waiting back at base for us. We'll take care of your rat problem, mate! (fake Aussie accent included for effect).

[hunter]

2. I'm hoping they kill this feel-good greenwash crap.

Leave the desert alone.

If wealthy uber-consumers want this crap, let them put it over their parking lots.

[NNadir]

4. Or on their golf courses.

[txlibdem]

6. You'll be singing a different tune when we get back to gas lines

I'm going to assume that you're too young to remember waiting an hour or two hours at the gas station to fill up during the 70's (I was barely old enough to drive myself). Don't fool yourself into thinking that we aren't headed that way again, only this time it won't be OPEC's political manipulation that causes it, it'll be actual and long lasting problems somewhere in the oil supply chain.

As to your point, I agree that anyone who wants solar on their roof ought to be able to afford it but for right now it's still reserved for the quite well off, even with the tax incentives included. The prices are coming down and I think you'll see 2015 looking a little different in that respect. Most solar pundits say 2012 to 2014 will be when solar prices reach the "affordability" point for a good percentage of home owners.

Think of it this way, however. Don't try to replace 100% of your electricity usage with solar panels on your roof. Just try to put enough solar up there so that your electric rate is almost always in the lowest cost tier. That is how solar pays off best today. Or (this is my favorite thought experiment) get rid of the gas guzzler you use to commute in and get an electric car to replace it. Keep your other gas guzzler, for extended trips or the occasional tragedy like having to drive to Florida for a funeral. I figured my wife could be driving a brand new car, a Nissan Leaf, powered fully off the sun all throughout the year except for a bit in December, January, and February (when it would just add $20 to $40 onto our quite modest winter electric bill during those months) and the solar panels with installation and all the "fixins" would be paid off in less than 10 years. Not bad. At around 15 years you replace the inverter for around $2000, you get free driving for the rest of the 25+ year life of the solar panels.

Here's how I figured that. I did some rough back of the napkin math:

• ... First, figure out how much you drive and how much it would cost without solar panels
  
• My wife drives 12,240 miles a year (actually it's closer to 10,000 but let's just go with it)
  
• # of kilowatt hours it would take to drive a Nissan Leaf that number of miles
  
• Nissan says their vehicle uses between 225 and 250 watts to travel one mile but I used 300 because my honey is a lead foot sometimes and she will want the heater and a/c so I came up with (3,672 kilowatt hours a year)
  
• Note that 3,670 kWh a year is about $437 for the year as my electric rate is 11.9 cents per kWh
  I'm disregarding that here in Dallas the MORE electricity you use the LESS you pay
  
• That's it for the electric car part, now to figure the current gas expenses
  
• 12,240 miles / 24 mpg for our Highlander equals 510 gallons
  
• You can see already that even if gasoline were $1 it would be cheaper to drive the electric car
  
• Checked gasbuddy.com and it says gas here is $2.69 a gallon so that's annually $1372
  
• $1372 (what it costs to drive a gas burner car) minus $437 for the Leaf gives us $935 difference
  
• ... You could stop there, figuring that you could shave that $90 per month off your total vehicle costs (that means your insurance is free!)
  
• In other words, you may not even want to get the solar panels, just enjoy saving $90
  
• ... But go on to figure the solar panel part
  
• In order to deliver 3,670 kWh of solar total you wouldn't need as large a solar system as you'd think
  
• Figure out how many hours a day of usable solar you get, http://www.solar-estimate.org , to determine the smallest size solar array you can get away with and still drive on sunlight most of the year.
  
• I went to 1bog.org (which stands for One Block Off the Grid) to get the total cost for the solar by waiting till there were enough people in my area for a group purchase.
  
• Then I poked around google for solar estimator sites and got anywhere from $4.80 per watt to $9 so the numbers might work out differently in your area
  

I also should mention that Coda has a calculator on their website that can help you compare your present vehicle (or one you're considering to buy) with their car to see how much you'll save by driving an electric car. http://www.codaautomotive.com

[hunter]

12. I voted for Jimmy Carter, I waited in gas lines...

... and I don't want huge solar farms providing negligible amounts of electricity destroying fragile desert ecosystems.

I'm quite impatient to see the age of the automobile come to an end. If I never have to buy another automobile I will be happy. The car I drive now is 25 years old and ought to last another 25 at least.

Instead of switching to electric cars, how about we get rid of commuting by automobile?

[Confusious]

8. I'm all for it, just not in my backyard? nt

[txlibdem]

9. Funny how some people are FOR everything... as long as it aint in their back yard

I'm with you on that one for sure.

Well, folks, it's time to grow the "F" up and tackle renewable energy as a nation. If that means that some heretofore lucky sob is gonna have a little bit worse view out their window then tooooo BAD.

Do none of these brainiacs remember the hell that was unleashed when gas prices went to $4 in '08? I'm old enough to remember the gas lines of the 1970s and the look of fear on peoples' faces who had to drive from one gas station to the next looking for someone who had gasoline so they could go to work the next day. That is where things are headed again. Believe it. Peak oil aint just a story you tell your kids to scare them into doing their homework... Booga-booga!

I'm so sorry that a few rats might have to walk a couple hundred feet extra to enjoy the other 10,000 square miles of desert habitat that will be untouched. We need to get as much solar power as possible and we need it YESTERDAY.

[hunter]

13. I disagree.

We've already trashed plenty of the planet.

If we're gonna build this kinda crap, put it in places that have already been trashed.

[jeff47]

3. This is why we can't have nice things

Nothing is ever green enough, huh?

[joshcryer]

5. Actually, it would be very irresponsible to allow such industrial projects...

...without significant impact studies.

The tribe said that department officials ignored Quechan concerns and rushed through or skipped important permitting steps, violating federal law.

This is commonly done on these sorts of projects, impact studies are ignored, and indeed, in some cases, like the Steens Mountain project, federal laws are circumvented (they decided to parcel up their wind farm into three "separate" wind farms which requires less oversight).

Indeed, it would be criminal to rush these projects through just to get some stimulus funds.

[jeff47]

7. Except there were impact studies

http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/solartwo/

The Energy Commission is the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has a certified regulatory program under CEQA. Under its certified program, the Energy Commission is exempt from having to prepare an environmental impact report. Its certified program, however, does require environmental analysis of the project, including an analysis of alternatives and mitigation measures to minimize any significant adverse effect the project may have on the environment.

Unfortunately, the news article doesn't provide any specific steps that were 'skipped or rushed through', and a brief Google search didn't come up with any.

More to the point, people seem to be really pissed that attempts are being made at building greener infrastructure, because it is not perfect.

[jpak]

10. Navajo uranium miners died by the dozens - but we can forget that - everyone else did

Navajo Uranium Miners Fight for Compensation

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/miners.html

On the reservation back in the '40s and the '50s, jobs were pretty scarce. In 1958, I had just returned from the Armed Services. I couldn't find a job and I had the chance to get into the mines. The first time, after about 3 months, I complained about the safety of the mines. The boss didn't like it so he said at the end of the work week, "Don't come back Monday." So I didn't.

Then the mine ownership changed. Kerr-McGee took over, and I applied for a job and got work again. Again I complained, this time about the wages. I said the federal law requires that the workers be paid $1.25/hr. and these people are getting anywhere from 80 to 90 cents/hr. for their labor. Again I got fired.

Mining the Navajo Nation

Mining here started as early as 1918 around the Carrizo Mountain area, which is just about 30 miles west of Shiprock. They first mined vanadium and then they discovered uranium, more by accident.

At that time, uranium was not the ore that was mined. They did'nt know what it was so they just kept a lot of the stuff around in those mines. One of my constituents says that they had uranium in gunny sacks stacked in the trading post at Beclahito. It had been there for a number of years before they found out what it was.

<more>

[txlibdem]

11. Wow. Ignorance and hubris make a deadly combination it seems

Those miners should receive the same compensation that every other uranium miner from that era received.

[phantom power]

14. Low density => high impact.

[txlibdem]

15. Just like Sodium Chloride

I thank you, fellow American, for your courage in calling out these dangers. It is citizens like you who are making this a great country! I salute you.

I read about women having dimethyl ketone put on their fingers and toes. This sickening practice must stop.

Sodium tetraborate has been found in laundry detergents or laundry additives.

Our children are exposed to calcium carbonate at their schools.

If you go to a fish restaurant there is a chance that, in addition to the seafood on the plate, there may also be potassium bitartrate mixed in some of the sauces.

I caught my wife using one of her beauty products and my jaw dropped to the floor when I read the ingredients: magnesium silicate

We need to start investigating these and other chemicals that we are exposed to sometimes on a daily basis.