TWENTYNINE PALMS MARINE BASE GETS CONSERVATION AWARD

The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District regulates stationary sources of air pollution and implements air quality regulations across more than 20,000 square miles. It also recognizes leading efforts to conserve energy and reduce pollution in the region. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has this story on a local recipient of the district’s top award…
Last month, the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District gave top honors for 2017 to the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center for its multipronged approach to conservation and green energy production. It has one of the largest federally-owned solar arrays in existence, which supplies more than 5 percent of the Combat Center’s electricity. In the winter, an on-site co-generation plant recovers exhaust and converts it to heat for a third of its central heating plant. Over time, the base has replaced over 4,000 lights with solar and energy-efficient fixtures to dramatically reduce the night-sky imprint and save a half million dollars in energy expenses yearly. A comprehensive recycling program converts millions of pounds of solid waste into nearly $2 million in revenue each year. The Air Quality Management District singled out the Combat Center for “protecting our freedom while simultaneously protecting the air breathed by … (the 550,000-plus) residents of the Mojave Desert.”