The County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the controversial Soda Mountain solar energy project southwest of Baker tomorrow. Reporter Mike Lipsitz explains why a project so many miles away has engendered intense local interest…
At tomorrow’s 10 a.m. meeting of the County Board of Supervisors in San Bernardino, the board is expected to convene a public hearing to consider the Soda Mountain solar energy project planned for over 2,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land six miles southwest of Baker. And while that is some distance from Morongo Basin, local interest has been high. Critics object to its proximity to the Mojave National Preserve, about a half mile away. They say the facility will block a migratory route to Death Valley by bighorn sheep, as well as a number of other negative environmental impacts. Local organizations, including the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council, Morongo Basin Conservation Association and the Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce, have held letter writing campaigns; their reps plan to testify at tomorrow’s hearing. Anyone wishing to speak for or against the project may do so in person at the County Government Center in San Bernardino, or via live video link from the first floor teleconferencing room in the County Government Center on White Feather Road in Joshua Tree.
