Desert Tortoise, photo by David O. Flickr.com, Creative Commons
COMMENTARY
Sometimes the effort to do the right thing butts heads with other conscientious efforts. Such is the case between creating the largest solar energy facility in the U.S. vs. the desire of some animal rights activists to preserve the natural habitat of some desert tortoises.
Even though a plan is in place to relocate desert tortoises in the area of Chuckwalla Valley (where the solar farm is to be built) to nearby desert regions; and even though there is no real risk of extinction to these endangered creatures because of the project, animal rights activists insist that the construction in this one area will harbor the extinction of the desert tortoise.
Let’s spell this out again. The Bureau of Land Management says that if desert tortoises are encountered during the construction of the project, they will be transferred to other areas like Joshua Tree National Monument. Desert tortoises already inhabit large swathes of the desert, many parts of which are far from the proposed project area. In fact, most desert tortoises are NOT in the project area. Thus, there is no chance of extinction if a solar farm is built on 4,100 acres of land. To put this in perspective, desert tortoises live in four states and parts of Mexico, a range equivalent to 6 MILLION acres.
Yet, animal rights activists seem to have got it in their heads that the desert tortoise will become extinct if 4,100 acres of land (out of the tortoise’s 6 MILLION acre range) is developed to harness solar energy.
The solar farm, called the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, will produce 550 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 635,000 homes, create 630 jobs, and infuse $336 million into the economy.
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