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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Google will buy all the power generated by the 270-megawatt Happy Hereford Wind Farm in the Texas panhandle near Amarillo. No, we're not making that name up.
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The U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service confirms that a protected peregrine falcon was found severely injured on the site of BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah solar facility in September. It died shortly after. Solar flux is being eyed as a possible cause of death.
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An indie band crowdfunds to solarize a popular non-profit working to change lives in Los Angeles, and promotes its new album along the way.
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Local opposition may have doomed a proposed 20-acre solar project in Hesperia.
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A major transmission project now being considered by the BLM and other agencies could bring 3,000 megawatts of power from Wyoming to cities in California, Nevada, and Arizona, removing an obstacle to much greater expansion of wind turbines in Wyoming's eagle habitat.
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I saw it crossing the trail ahead: a low black dot with an air of confidence. It made no attempt to hurry for cover as I approached. It was the placid self-assuredness of an animal that knew it could make life miserable for anything that bothered it.
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A coal-fired plant operated by the LADWP is among the nation's 50 dirtiest power plants, according to a report released Tuesday.
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The proposed solar power plant would have a "substantial adverse impact" on visual resources in Riverside County's Chuckwalla Valley, including the views from vantage points in two protected wildernesses and Joshua Tree National Park, according to a state assessment.
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On a cost-effectiveness basis alone, electrical power storage may make a lot more sense for solar energy than it does for wind.
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At least 27 golden eagles perished at 13 California wind turbine facilities between 1997 and June 2012, with a startling rise in reported mortalities in 2011. That's not including the eagle killing machines at Altamont Pass.
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A new study suggests that low pay for Chinese solar panel workers isn't the reason that solar panel prices have dropped dramatically.
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A bill to revamp the state's laws regulating how utilities treat rooftop solar that had been a target of pointed criticism by pro-solar groups passed a voice vote on the Senate Floor Monday with amendments that have some solar advocates singing cautious praise.
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Leaving your hot water running for five minutes can use as much energy as operating a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours.
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Orange County isn't exactly a stargazers' destination of choice, but there are places where you can get out and see more than a few stars, especially on new moon nights.
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Significant changes to a large solar project's design have prompted the BLM to go at least part of the way back to the drawing board with regard to the project's Environmental Impact Statement.
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California's U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has reaffirmed her concerns over the fossil fuel extraction process known as "fracking" by informally endorsing a bill in the state Legislature tthat would put strict limits on the practice.
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A draft of a policy would require the state's three largest utilities to start acquiring power storage capacity, with a target of more than 1,300 megawatts of storage capacity by 2020.
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Financial support of distributed solar has been a hot-button issue since the right decided to make the Solyndra bankruptcy a mass media talking point. But solar's got a lot of catching up to do before it enjoys the public subsidy paid out to another form of power generation: nuclear.
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This county just west of L.A. also holds some great places to look at those other heavenly bodies.
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There are a few places closer at hand in L.A. County where the night skies are dark enough to make tilting your head upward worthwhile.
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Sometimes we hate having our suspicions confirmed. Look for thefts like this to grow.
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The Quechan Indian Tribe minces no words about a proposed solar energy project in Riverside County.
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Remember biodiesel? The fuel that was going to save the world back 10 or 12 years ago, but then fell off many people's radar? Now the fuel is on the upswing. California's biodiesel sector is growing by leaps and bounds.
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The Rocky Mountain Institute suggests a way that solar companies might entice homeowners to go solar: give them a whole lot of cash up front.
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A group concerned with the preservation of Native sacred sites in the Colorado River valley has charged that the Federal Government isn't reaching out to local Native people as the law requires.
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The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a study this month that's bound to generate some controversy: its authors are saying they found no evidence that the presence of utility-scale wind turbines causes a drop in nearby resiidential property values.
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Could humans really drive themselves to extinction by changing the global climate? Maybe, but that's really the wrong question to ask.
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First Solar has identifed its two staff members killed in Monday's plane crash near its Desert Sunlight solar facility in Riverside County as Mike Cyr, 41, and Jeff Randall, 35.
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Torrential rains that pushed into the California desert over the weekend washed out a number of main roads in Mojave National Preserve, as well as a major thoroughfare connecting the east and west sections of Joshua Tree National Park.
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A small fixed-wing aircraft apparently crashed early Monday afternoon in the Riverside County desert west of Blythe, and police say that the plane was likely occupied by employees of the company building the Desert Sunlight Solar facility near Joshua Tree National Park.
Recent Actions from Chris Clarke
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We do run positive news abut wind, such as advances in designs that offer lower bird mortality. And as our contacts in the utility-scale solar industry will tell you, we don't restrict our critical take to wind energy. As for...
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Greg: More like 1) Savory makes several unsubtle statements to the effect that all deserts are actually grasslands waiting to be restored by his own proprietary method. Which I believe I actually said in some detail in the original post....
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We've got about 500 articles here on ReWire encouraging development of sensible energy generation technologies. You might want to take a look through them before you leap to conclusions about what we believe. Also, I wish I had a Macbook...
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Even today, I meet people who regularly go between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach who've never considered doing so on the Blue Line. Blame racism if you must, or classism, or anti-transit bias, but I would submit you need...
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Second-hand anecdotal tales from Manitoba don't in any way address the reality of grazing in the arid lands of the American southwest. I note that none of the comments supporting Savory actually address the issues this essay raises, but merely...
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Thanks for the clarification and extended analysis, rd!...
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I very much appreciate your expanding on the piece in your mainly excellent comment, ethics. I say mainly because I'd strongly prefer commenters avoid appearance-based slurs. The physical appearance of players in the renewable energy world in California is irrelevant...
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Please don't dilute your excellent points with irrelevant comments about people's body sizes. Let's keep the conversation on topic. (Don't get me wrong: I definitely appreciate your thanks, but I wonder if you'd have offered them if you knew I'm...
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Thanks for stepping up with the good info, joaquin!...
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At this point, Chris W, you are just making stuff up wholesale. Cut it out....
Responses to Comments from Chris Clarke
No recommendations yet.
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Google will buy all the power generated by the 270-megawatt Happy Hereford Wind Farm in the Texas panhandle near Amarillo. No, we're not making that name up.
-
The U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service confirms that a protected peregrine falcon was found severely injured on the site of BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah solar facility in September. It died shortly after. Solar flux is being eyed as a possible cause of death.
-
An indie band crowdfunds to solarize a popular non-profit working to change lives in Los Angeles, and promotes its new album along the way.
-
Local opposition may have doomed a proposed 20-acre solar project in Hesperia.
-
A major transmission project now being considered by the BLM and other agencies could bring 3,000 megawatts of power from Wyoming to cities in California, Nevada, and Arizona, removing an obstacle to much greater expansion of wind turbines in Wyoming's eagle habitat.
-
I saw it crossing the trail ahead: a low black dot with an air of confidence. It made no attempt to hurry for cover as I approached. It was the placid self-assuredness of an animal that knew it could make life miserable for anything that bothered it.
-
A coal-fired plant operated by the LADWP is among the nation's 50 dirtiest power plants, according to a report released Tuesday.
-
The proposed solar power plant would have a "substantial adverse impact" on visual resources in Riverside County's Chuckwalla Valley, including the views from vantage points in two protected wildernesses and Joshua Tree National Park, according to a state assessment.
-
On a cost-effectiveness basis alone, electrical power storage may make a lot more sense for solar energy than it does for wind.
-
At least 27 golden eagles perished at 13 California wind turbine facilities between 1997 and June 2012, with a startling rise in reported mortalities in 2011. That's not including the eagle killing machines at Altamont Pass.
