Peter Maloney Environmentalists Against Solar Power

"Environmentalists Against Solar Power" Summary Peter Maloney writes in his article, " Environmentalists Against Solar Power" that solar power projects are facing major scrutiny, not from the coal or oil industry, but from environmentalists. Maloney says that Southern California is pushing for solar power in the desert cause the amount of sunlight with virtually no clouds, "but its also the home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents". Maloney also states that the US Bureau of Land Management says that it had applications submitted for solar power that would cover 78,490 acres in the desert. For the entire US, the number of applications grew from zero two years ago to more than 125 with enouch potential electrical power of 70,000 megawatts or the equivalent to 70 large coal plants.
Jim Harvey, who is the founder of the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, is quoted by Maloney saying, " Our position is that none of this is needed. We support renewable energy, and we support California's renewable energy targets, but we think it can be done through rooftop solar". Harvey also pointed out the success that Germany was having by using rooftop solar panels. The way it works is that the government offers payments for electricity generated from solar panels. The payment is roughly 50 cents per kilowatt hour. The average payment in the US in 11 cents per kilowatt hour, but the payments would not be as high as the German payments here. Maloney goes on to say not only would the solar panels destroy habitats, it would run the deserts small water supply, as it is, even more scarce. The mirror and solar panels would have to be washed, and some panels use turbines which would require more