Chris Clarke
Website:
About Me:
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.
Twitter:
Subscribe To:
My KCET.org Activities
-
Entry3:30 PM on February 15, 2013Those who want to keep solar plants off prime farmland get more respect than their counterparts in the desert. Why is that?
-
Entry3:00 PM on February 15, 2013It 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.
-
Entry2:02 PM on February 15, 2013The California Energy Commission has awarded $17,223,593 in grants intended to promote cleaner-fueled vehicles in the state of California.
-
Entry1:38 PM on February 14, 2013I have walked the desert with other people and without other people, but I have never walked the desert by myself.
-
Comment11:07 PM on February 13, 2013ChrisW, 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....
-
Entry7:19 PM on February 13, 2013The 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.
-
Entry6:47 PM on February 13, 2013Even 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.
-
Comment6:06 PM on February 13, 2013Far 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...
-
Comment4:58 PM on February 13, 2013Sadly, 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...
-
Entry4:45 PM on February 13, 2013Plastic bag bans have spurred a spike in deaths from E. coli poisoning.
-
Entry8:27 PM on February 12, 2013In 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.
-
Entry4:41 PM on February 12, 2013Fast-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.
-
Entry2:41 PM on February 12, 2013The 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.
-
Entry12:35 PM on February 12, 2013The 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.
-
Entry6:37 PM on February 11, 2013A new smartphone app allows you to track California's power grid and renewables in real time.
-
Entry6:00 PM on February 11, 2013It 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.
-
Entry1:53 PM on February 11, 2013An 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.
-
Entry5:35 PM on February 8, 2013A 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.
-
Entry1:25 PM on February 8, 2013Barker Dam, built in 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has seen an explosion of graffiti since around October.
-
Entry12:10 PM on February 8, 2013Imperial County Sheriffs have arrested a construction manager for the project after he allegedly confronted and threatened an Ocotillo resident and project opponent.
-
Entry10:30 AM on February 8, 2013A painful step on a cactus leads writer Chris Clarke down the path of explaining the fearsome plant family's range of weapons.
-
Entry10:30 AM on February 8, 2013Whether 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.
-
Entry10:20 AM on February 8, 2013Fox 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.
-
Entry6:18 PM on February 7, 2013A 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."
-
Entry3:07 PM on February 7, 2013Sen. 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.
-
Entry2:12 PM on February 7, 2013The 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.
-
Entry10:00 AM on February 7, 2013An 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.
-
Entry6:37 PM on February 6, 2013It 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.
-
Entry4:32 PM on February 6, 2013Unless the California desert gets a bit more rains in March, 2013's spring desert bloom may be a disappointing one.
-
Entry12:37 PM on February 6, 2013Sally 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?
-
Comment11:07 PM on February 13, 2013ChrisW, 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....
-
Comment6:06 PM on February 13, 2013Far 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...
-
Comment4:58 PM on February 13, 2013Sadly, 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...
-
Comment5:06 PM on January 11, 2013This is the best thing I've read on Huell so far, and that's a remarkably high bar. Thank you....
-
Comment12:57 PM on December 20, 2012Great 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,...
-
Comment4:12 PM on December 19, 2012Cloudwalker, 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....
-
Comment10:16 PM on December 17, 2012Great piece, DJ, and eye opening. They're just as much mammals as we are, though,...
-
Comment1:42 PM on October 19, 2012Glaser'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...
-
Comment1:43 PM on October 3, 2012Thanks for spotting that, Bill. Fixed....
-
Comment7:26 PM on September 19, 2012If 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...
No recommendations yet.
-
Entry3:30 PM on February 15, 2013Those who want to keep solar plants off prime farmland get more respect than their counterparts in the desert. Why is that?
-
Entry3:00 PM on February 15, 2013It 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.
-
Entry2:02 PM on February 15, 2013The California Energy Commission has awarded $17,223,593 in grants intended to promote cleaner-fueled vehicles in the state of California.
-
Entry1:38 PM on February 14, 2013I have walked the desert with other people and without other people, but I have never walked the desert by myself.
-
Entry7:19 PM on February 13, 2013The 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.
-
Entry6:47 PM on February 13, 2013Even 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.
-
Entry4:45 PM on February 13, 2013Plastic bag bans have spurred a spike in deaths from E. coli poisoning.
-
Entry8:27 PM on February 12, 2013In 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.
-
Entry4:41 PM on February 12, 2013Fast-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.
-
Entry2:41 PM on February 12, 2013The 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.
Support for KCET.org provided by:
The Digital Download keeps you up to date each week with the most popular KCET.org stories and videos. View archives.
Support for KCET.org provided by:





