Chris Clarke
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Chris Clarke is a natural history writer and environmental journalist currently at work on a book about the Joshua tree. He lives in Joshua Tree.
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My KCET.org Activities
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Those who want to keep solar plants off prime farmland get more respect than their counterparts in the desert. Why is that?
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It looks like the possible impact on habitat for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard will loom large in CEC's decision to approve BrightSource's Palen solar project.
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The California Energy Commission has awarded $17,223,593 in grants intended to promote cleaner-fueled vehicles in the state of California.
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I have walked the desert with other people and without other people, but I have never walked the desert by myself.
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ChrisW, treat the other commenters here with respect or you will lose your welcome here. Reading those reports shows no such thing. It shows an increase in bobcats trapped....
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The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to devote proceeds from closing a polluting desert coal-fired power plant to promote renewable projects to benefit the Hopi and Navajo nations.
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Even though the L.A. Department of Water And Power's new solar incentive program has taken some heat, the new Feed-in Tariff already has more applicants for its first round than were planned for in the whole program.
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Far from not wanting readers to see that 2011 Bobcat Harvest Report to which ChrisW links, I absolutely urge readers to look at the document. Despite ChrisW's misleading representation of the report, it actually supports what I say here in...
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Sadly, ChrisW, only the first five words of your comment come anywhere near being correct. The rest are pretty much rebutted by the DFW's own report on the bobcat "harvest" each year. My observations on the history of bobcat trapping...
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Plastic bag bans have spurred a spike in deaths from E. coli poisoning.
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In his 2013 State Of The Union, President Obama covered new ground on renewables only when talking about one of the least-sexy facets of the overall issue: energy conservation.
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Fast-charging, high-capacity lithium ion batteries could be available in two or three years, if a breakthrough made by USC engineers turns out to be commercially viable.
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The groups charge that the Bureau of Land Management should have examined alternatives that concentrate development on disturbed lands and in the urban environment, not public lands.
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The last time you took a long road trip, did you assume you had enough gas because you checked the gas gauge a couple days ago? That's how California manages its bobcat population: letting the "supply" go uncounted for more than three decades as we burn through a thousand or more each year.
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A new smartphone app allows you to track California's power grid and renewables in real time.
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It was once lauded as the "nation's largest solar project." That was before the developer went bankrupt. Now, the site stands seemingly abandoned, a drift of blowing dust and invasive grass where once there was thriving desert.
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An initiative cleared for signature-gathering last week would shutter California's two remaining nuclear power plants until the federal government has figured out where to put high-level nuclear waste.
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A proposed wind turbine installation in North Dakota poses a threat to the critically endangered whooping crane, of which fewer than 400 remain in the wild.
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Barker Dam, built in 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has seen an explosion of graffiti since around October.
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Imperial County Sheriffs have arrested a construction manager for the project after he allegedly confronted and threatened an Ocotillo resident and project opponent.
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A painful step on a cactus leads writer Chris Clarke down the path of explaining the fearsome plant family's range of weapons.
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Whether they find you in the wilderness or in the botanic garden, cactus spines can hurt -- and the little hairy kind called glochids can actually pose a risk to your health if you aren't careful.
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Fox News and The Onion each offered up a story on solar electricity recently, and it's interesting to compare the two. One of the pieces was so laughably inaccurate it could only have been satire. And the other was by The Onion.
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A new initiative cleared for signature-gathering Monday by Secretary of State Debra Bowen, would replace SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E with the publicly owned "California Electrical Utility District."
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Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Edward Markey have charged that SCE, the operator of the beleaguered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, was aware of serious problems with a critical part being installed.
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The Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System, proposed by BrightSource Energy for the Pahrump Valley in Inyo County, would destroy half the known occurrences of a rare plant in California, according to the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) -- and the California Energy Commission (CEC) isn't doing enough to make sure that loss of population won't result in the plant's extinction in the state, says the group.
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An unprecedented coalition of Native people and other environmental activists fought the State of California to a standstill 15 years ago on a proposal to dump low-level nuclear waste in Ward Valley.
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It looks as though California has broken another solar power record, and it's done so in one of the least-sunny times of year possible.
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Unless the California desert gets a bit more rains in March, 2013's spring desert bloom may be a disappointing one.
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Sally Jewell is a bit of a dark horse, with far more of a track record in managing businesses than in setting policy. If confirmed, what will that mean for energy policy on public lands?
Recent Actions from Chris Clarke
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ChrisW, treat the other commenters here with respect or you will lose your welcome here. Reading those reports shows no such thing. It shows an increase in bobcats trapped....
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Far from not wanting readers to see that 2011 Bobcat Harvest Report to which ChrisW links, I absolutely urge readers to look at the document. Despite ChrisW's misleading representation of the report, it actually supports what I say here in...
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Sadly, ChrisW, only the first five words of your comment come anywhere near being correct. The rest are pretty much rebutted by the DFW's own report on the bobcat "harvest" each year. My observations on the history of bobcat trapping...
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This is the best thing I've read on Huell so far, and that's a remarkably high bar. Thank you....
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Great article, Char. I used to encourage people to think of farmed Christas trees as mainly organic cut flowers grown by local farmers. It makes the issues a lot clearer. And like the issue of paper or plastic grocery bags,...
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Cloudwalker, please keep your comments substantive and avoid personal attacks on other commenters. If you disagree with what sheila has to say then say what it is you disagree with, and why....
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Great piece, DJ, and eye opening. They're just as much mammals as we are, though,...
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Glaser's work is more than 40 years old. It was a literature survey and not a report of research. It carries right up front, on page 2, the note: The comments upon and criticisms of the literature made in this...
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Thanks for spotting that, Bill. Fixed....
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If this reporting were to be influenced by fossil fuel company sponsorship then our reporting on renewable energy projects would be very different indeed. BO and Shell Oil are quite involved in wind power, Chevron in solar, and fossil-fuel friendly...
Responses to Comments from Chris Clarke
No recommendations yet.
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Those who want to keep solar plants off prime farmland get more respect than their counterparts in the desert. Why is that?
-
It looks like the possible impact on habitat for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard will loom large in CEC's decision to approve BrightSource's Palen solar project.
-
The California Energy Commission has awarded $17,223,593 in grants intended to promote cleaner-fueled vehicles in the state of California.
-
I have walked the desert with other people and without other people, but I have never walked the desert by myself.
-
The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to devote proceeds from closing a polluting desert coal-fired power plant to promote renewable projects to benefit the Hopi and Navajo nations.
-
Even though the L.A. Department of Water And Power's new solar incentive program has taken some heat, the new Feed-in Tariff already has more applicants for its first round than were planned for in the whole program.
-
Plastic bag bans have spurred a spike in deaths from E. coli poisoning.
-
In his 2013 State Of The Union, President Obama covered new ground on renewables only when talking about one of the least-sexy facets of the overall issue: energy conservation.
-
Fast-charging, high-capacity lithium ion batteries could be available in two or three years, if a breakthrough made by USC engineers turns out to be commercially viable.
-
The groups charge that the Bureau of Land Management should have examined alternatives that concentrate development on disturbed lands and in the urban environment, not public lands.
