Not necessarily the kind of farm some people have in mind | Photo: Petor Smit/Flickr/Creative Commons License

As increasing numbers of developers turn their eyes toward California's farmland for potential conversion to solar facilities, a bit of pushback is developing. Farmland preservation groups are raising the alarm that viable, productive farm fields are in danger of being lost to arrays of solar panels. A recent article in the Associated Press by reporter Tracie Cone summarizes the arguments quite well. For those who've expressed similar concerns over loss of desert habitat and other wildlands to solar developers, the arguments are quite familiar.

And yet there's a big difference in the reaction to the farmland preservation activists: they aren't being dismissed as obstructionists, climate change deniers, or NIMBYs.

How BrightSource's Palen solar project might look from the nearest pavement | Image via California Energy Commission

BrightSource Energy has provided the California Energy Commission (CEC) with more details on its proposed redesign of the Palen Solar Electric Generation System, and it looks like the project's possible impact on habitat for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard will loom large in CEC's decision to approve the project.

Electric car chargers and other alternative fuel projects get a cash infusion in California | Photo: T.J./Flickr/Creative Commons License

The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced this week that it has awarded $17,223,593 in grants intended to promote cleaner-fueled vehicles in the state of California. The grants, made as part of Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, are going to eight recipients who'll use them in projects ranging from a Fresno biodiesel plant to a cutting-edge traffic modeling software suite.

The Mohave Generating Station | Photo: Alan Stark/Flickr/Creative Commons License

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) closed a chapter of the Southwest's environmental history Wednesday, as it voted unanimously to devote proceeds from closing a polluting desert coal-fired power plant to promote renewable projects to benefit the Hopi and Navajo nations.

Sadly, the Feed-in Tariff DWP is offering wouldn't include rooftop systems this small. | Photo: Mike Spasoff/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Even though the L.A. Department of Water And Power (LADWP)'s new solar incentive program has taken some heat for not offering enough cash per kilowatt, the new Feed-in Tariff (FiT) already has more applicants for its first round than were planned for in the whole program.

Though Obama's 2013 State of the Union included the most extensive mention of climate change of any SOTU in history, the speech's energy and climate section was by no means its most moving portion. There were a few mentions of old Democratic talking points on increasing solar and wind capacity and engaging in research and development. In fact, the President only covered new ground on renewables when talking about one of the least-sexy facets of the overall issue: energy conservation.