by Bonner Cohen
Heartland Institute

In a closely watched decision, the San Bernardino, California County Board of Supervisors (SBBOS) voted 3–2 to reject a controversial solar-energy facility in California’s scenic Mojave Desert.

The board rejected the facility by declining to certify permits required under state law…

Critics of government-mandated and subsidized renewable-energy products were also pleased SBBOS recognized the environmental costs of the Soda Mountain project.

“It’s refreshing to see local officials beginning to recognize there are environmental costs from renewable-energy installations, especially in sensitive-habitat areas,” said Tom Tanton, director of science and technology at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute. “Perhaps state and federal authorities will begin to notice the costs overwhelm the benefits and stop forcing these land-intensive technologies with very little useful output and negative job impact onto the grid, to the detriment of the ratepayer.”

“Whether it’s the wanton slaughter of an untold number of birds and bats every year by wind turbines or the despoiling of the countryside by massive solar arrays, there is a huge environmental cost to these forms of renewable energy,” said Craig Rucker, executive director of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. “And on top of that, they don’t deliver the affordable and reliable energy they promise.”

Read more.