USA Today has an interesting article about a simmering controversy over a proposed solar-power plant in the Mojave Desert near the Route 66 hamlet of Amboy, Calif.
I would recommend reading it all, but wanted to call attention to an excerpt:
PG&E project manager Alice Harron says she is “comfortable” with the solar power plant her utility wants to build on government land here along 4 miles of the Mother Road that connected Chicago and Los Angeles long before the interstate system.
David Myers of the Wildlands Conservancy is not. Renewable energy projects such as this one — which could power 224,000 homes — sound good in theory, he says, but if they tear up pristine vistas, they’re not “green.” […]
I think the big mistake by opponents is the same that was made by Valle Vista residents regarding another alternative-energy project — this dubious notion that the Route 66 is some sort of pristine, natural landscape.
The Route 66 corridor is anything but. The Mother Road has always been a vital artery of commerce — Roy’s in Amboy and other operating (and defunct) roadside businesses that dot the highway are proof. Even without Route 66, that section of the Mojave is home to a major BNSF railway, another significant road that connects to Twentynine Palms, Calif., and a nearby military base. That’s hardly what anyone would call virginal wilderness.
And that sparsely populated desert stretch of Route 66 from Needles to Barstow is more than 150 miles. Four miles of a solar-power plant isn’t going to ruin anyone’s vacation.
Like it or not, the United States is going to have to develop some alternate forms of energy in the coming decades. The price of oil isn’t going to remain lower forever. If we can develop other forms of energy from an abundant, domestic and nonpolluting sources, it’s going to be a long-term strategic victory for our country.
It’s proper that Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), who’s expressed reservations about the plan, would keep a critical eye on the project. Oversight is good. But it’s my opinion that Myers’ and other critics’ reasons for opposing the Mojave solar project are weak.
Besides, if a solar plant brings more traffic to that long-moribund stretch of Route 66, that would be a positive for Roy’s and other businesses on the road, correct?