Solar

Dear Mr. President, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude for all that you do to help protect our precious environment and for your work to ensure a sustainable and healthy economy. Regarding Big Solar: I acknowledge the depth of knowledge of your advisors regarding clean energy issues, but as "a little guy" I humbly ask you, in spite of my ignorance of perhaps not getting it exactly straight, to please consider the following. I am all for clean energy, but please pay attention to what is happening to our pristine desert areas of the southwest.  Big solar is not as clean as it seems, I admit it can be a transition away from our nation's dependency on fossil fuels, however the push to develop these huge solar facilities puts our pristine desert lands at risk.   Here are what I see as some of the problems,   one of the main ones being impact on water usage.  Many of these proposed facilities would employ a wet cooling method that uses a lot of water, which of course impacts the already over-consumed groundwater and watersheds of the arid southwest regions.  Dry cooling methods, using far less amounts of water, still may cause strain on the regional hydrology.  Another issue that bugged me was most of the proposed sites are on our pristine federal lands. These huge facilities essentially require a scraping clear of the landscape.  The impact on our wildlife and native plants in these areas can be tremendous. Think the desert tortoise - a popular animal for promoting desert conservation - is only one of a number of native plant and animal species whose habitat will be affected.  If we must have big solar facilities, why not use already disturbed lands, such as military sites, etc.?  And, the mitigation being discussed thus far is looking weak at best. 

Perhaps an even bigger question is, why not have PVC solar along the transportation corridors such as I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the two largest metropolitan areas most likely to benefit from...