Good article. We can't afford years of bureaucratic red tape, but we can't justify running over people, either. Time is pressing. Are you aware of the situation in the Permian Basin? All that fracking we sadly depend on is on the cusp of steep decline. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-vanishing-and-reappearance-of
I was a resident of the Mojave Desert for two decades. For years I agreed that Nevada had huge potential to be a solar power state. Then, one day in 2018, I heard about an application to put 100 wind turbines in a valley that I had come to cherish, one of the most astonishingly beautiful places in the Mojave, lush with biodiversity. It is known as Avi Kwa Ame (also known as Spirit Mountain)— considered to be among the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people. It is also important to Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples including the Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kumeyaay, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Quechan, Yavapai, and Zuni Tribes.
Thankfully a bunch of groups came together in support of making it a National Monument. I was on the board of a local Sierra Club at the time. Sierra Club would support the monument, but wouldn’t comment on renewable energy projects.
Soon I learned there were dozens more applications in surrounding areas and hundreds more coming. It seemed (and still does) like one of the last great wildernesses in the lower 48 is going to be paved. I realized we were going about this in the wrong way.
I spent the next several years researching and documenting. I also learned Las Vegas is trying to build a water pipeline to drain Eastern Nevada ground water to supply its growth needs. It also planned to grow south towards California and tare up more habitat.
I started a film series that attempted to share my concerns.
Thank you for sharing. I'll check your films out as I can and promote them when they are appropriate for my subject. You're probably aware of Max Wilbert here and his battle for Thacker Pass against Lithium Americas. It is also a crime against native people and will leave a hideous scar on the Earth. The water required for this operation is in the tens of billions of gallons a year, relying on precious groundwater. There is no chance that "green" technology can sustain the lives we're accustomed to, and it comes at its own price. We must reduce consumption and population to have a future. If we don't do it reasonably, the limits of the planet will do it for us in an extremely ugly way. Green is at best a bridge to serious societal change. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/showdown-at-thacker-pass
Good article. We can't afford years of bureaucratic red tape, but we can't justify running over people, either. Time is pressing. Are you aware of the situation in the Permian Basin? All that fracking we sadly depend on is on the cusp of steep decline. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/the-vanishing-and-reappearance-of
I was a resident of the Mojave Desert for two decades. For years I agreed that Nevada had huge potential to be a solar power state. Then, one day in 2018, I heard about an application to put 100 wind turbines in a valley that I had come to cherish, one of the most astonishingly beautiful places in the Mojave, lush with biodiversity. It is known as Avi Kwa Ame (also known as Spirit Mountain)— considered to be among the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people. It is also important to Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples including the Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kumeyaay, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Quechan, Yavapai, and Zuni Tribes.
Thankfully a bunch of groups came together in support of making it a National Monument. I was on the board of a local Sierra Club at the time. Sierra Club would support the monument, but wouldn’t comment on renewable energy projects.
Soon I learned there were dozens more applications in surrounding areas and hundreds more coming. It seemed (and still does) like one of the last great wildernesses in the lower 48 is going to be paved. I realized we were going about this in the wrong way.
I spent the next several years researching and documenting. I also learned Las Vegas is trying to build a water pipeline to drain Eastern Nevada ground water to supply its growth needs. It also planned to grow south towards California and tare up more habitat.
I started a film series that attempted to share my concerns.
https://youtube.com/@McAffeeFilms
Thank you for sharing. I'll check your films out as I can and promote them when they are appropriate for my subject. You're probably aware of Max Wilbert here and his battle for Thacker Pass against Lithium Americas. It is also a crime against native people and will leave a hideous scar on the Earth. The water required for this operation is in the tens of billions of gallons a year, relying on precious groundwater. There is no chance that "green" technology can sustain the lives we're accustomed to, and it comes at its own price. We must reduce consumption and population to have a future. If we don't do it reasonably, the limits of the planet will do it for us in an extremely ugly way. Green is at best a bridge to serious societal change. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/showdown-at-thacker-pass
This is bad news, but thanks for sharing it, and fir the info about who to contact.