Plans to scrape hundreds of thousands of acres of the Mojave Desert for solar panel installations may endanger wildlife and are pitting environmentalists against each other.
"Although [the desert tortoise] may be the official California state reptile, [it] may also be a casualty of a new national priority, as President Obama is determined to boost renewable energy in a big way, fast.
In hopes of displacing those CO2-spewing coal-fired power plants, no less an advocate than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is committed to turning tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of acres of remote California desert into vast solar-powered power plants to help light the state's cities and towns. But harvesting sun power comes with its own environmental costs. Some proposed projects would require grading or scraping the desert floor, denuding vegetation and the wildlife that lives in it.
While not all of the projects may get off the ground, the very idea of using hundreds of thousands of acres of public land for renewable energy development has pitted environmentalist against environmentalist, both sides wrestling with urgent priorities.
Critics insist that Westerners can have their solar power and desert animals too."
Read the full story: The tortoise and the sun
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The City of Austin is set to take in a record amount of solar power to advance towards a goal of deriving 30% of local energy from renewable sources by 2020.
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
One of Denver’s busiest corridors to gain BRT
The project will span 18 miles and contain 74 bus rapid transit stations.
275,000 bus trips are at stake on Seattle's ballot
If passed, the Seattle Transit Measure would trigger a 0.3% sales tax and raise an average of $138 million per year to maintain and expand Seattle’s bus services.
Texas may pay Israeli company billions to ease water woes
Texas awarded IDE Technologies the contract for its Harbor Island project, which is slated to become the Western Hemisphere's largest desalination plant.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
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University of Cincinnati Online
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