More than 3,500 majestic Joshua trees in California's Mojave Desert are being shredded onsite to make way for thousands of solar panels under a plan approved by California and Kern County officials.
Even though many of the trees are estimated to be between 100 and 200 years old, government approval of the solar project in 2021 predated a state decision to protect the Joshua tree under the California Endangered Species Act and last year's enactment by the legislature of the Joshua Tree Conservation Act, which bans unpermitted killing of the trees.
"Avantus is working to preserve native Mojave plants like Joshua Trees while also preserving California's ability to achieve its clean energy goals - and the economic and climate benefits that come with them," the company said.
"While trees will be impacted during project construction, vastly more Joshua Trees are being threatened by climate change caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions, which the Aratina solar project directly addresses." The company provides no evidence for its claim that Joshua trees "Are being threatened by climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions." In addition to the loss of the Joshua trees, which share the same habitat as the threatened desert tortoise, residents will have to contend with massive amounts of dust that will be kicked up during the project's construction.
"It's hard to comprehend." Two recognized subspecies of Joshua trees are native to the Mojave Desert, where they can be found at elevations of 2,000 to 6,000 feet.
The trees enjoy varying degrees of protection in the jurisdictions they inhabit, but those protections can be undermined if a favored project, such as a solar plantation, comes along.
While desert tortoises and Joshua trees are at risk from giant solar arrays on the ground, up in the air, taxpayer-subsidized wind turbines pose a real threat to supposedly protected bald and golden eagles.
https://dcjournal.com/thousands-of-joshua-trees-set-to-fall-victim-to-green-energy-transition/
Comments
Post a Comment