Despite warnings from government agencies that a 75-story solar tower in the desert southeast of Joshua Tree National Park would have “significant unmitigated impacts to biological, cultural, and visual resources” and “substantial adverse impact” to the viewsheds of Joshua Tree National Park, a preliminary decision last Friday by a committee of the California Energy Commission has given the go-ahead to a 500-megawat solar project known as the Palen Solar Electric Project. Just last December, the Energy Commission denied the application by BrightSource to build two 750-foot solar towers, each one surrounded by 85,000 mirrors, in the desert 60 miles east of Indio. BrightSource then modified its proposal to only one tower, and proposed holding off on the second tower until it could be built to store solar energy. The Commission’s committee then decided the benefits of the Palen project—which include 600 to 1,200 jobs during the two years of construction—outweigh the costs of ruining the views from the national park, polluting the night skies with light, and killing thousands of birds.
The Palen Solar Electric Project will be bigger than the Ivanpah Solar Project, built just west of Las Vegas. Birds that fly through Ivanpah’s concentrated sun rays burn up in mid-air; federal wildlife officials estimate that one bird is killed every two minutes at Ivanpah. The Palen project could kill up to four times as many birds, including golden eagles, peregrine falcons, and hundreds of other bird species, as the solar field is in the middle of a migratory bird path between the Colorado River and the Salton Sea. Former Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Mark Butler said in a statement that he was disappointed in the decision, saying the solar project, “even in a modified form, will irrevocably harm Joshua Tree National Park’s sweeping scenic vistas, as well as migrating and protected bird species like the golden eagle that travel through the park. The bottom line is that we should invest in renewable energy opportunities that unlike the Palen project, protect species, viewsheds and communities.”
Senior Field Representative to the National Parks Conservation Association Seth Shteir said in a statement, “The CEC concedes that the Palen solar power tower would kill migrating eagles, raptors and songbirds from deadly solar flux, caused by radiating heat from the solar panels, and avian collisions, yet irresponsibly prioritizes it over the protection of California’s beloved Joshua Tree National Park. The Palen solar project also stands to mar Joshua Tree National Park’s pristine undeveloped vistas and cause light pollution that would harm the park’s clear, dark night skies—attributes that a vast majority of Joshua Tree National Park’s more than 1.3 million annual visitors find very or extremely important to their national park experience.”
Donna Charpeid, an activist who lives near the southeastern border of the national park, told the Desert Sun newspaper, “There’s just one conclusion I can come to: local, state, and federal governments hate the desert.”
The energy commission’s recommendation will go through a 30-day public comment period, ending 5 p.m. October 13. A public meeting on the Palen project will be held at UC-Palm Desert at 9 a.m. October 6, with the full Commission releasing its final recommendations October 29. See this story at Z1077fm.com for how to file public comments on the Palen project.
Comments can be sent electronically to the committee at:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/palen/index.html
Emailed to: [email protected]
Or mailed to:
California Energy Commission
Docket Unit
Docket number: 09-AFC-07C
1516 Ninth Street, MS-4
Sacramento, CA 95614
