Solar Project Planned for Mojave Desert Will Destroy Thousands of Joshua Trees and Endangered Tortoise Habitat

A new solar power project that will break ground in the Mojave Desert, near two Kern County towns in California, will require thousands of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) to be removed. The project is also expected to destroy a habitat for desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii), California’s state reptile and a threatened species.
 

The Aratina Solar Center project, developed by Avantus, is slated to span 2,300 acres in Boron, California and has already been revised once due to local complaints. According to the project website, the solar power site was redesigned to be better disguised from local residents.

But locals are still concerned about how this project can affect Boron and another nearby town, Desert Lake, in addition to the environmental impacts. 

A study on the project highlighted that the area’s soil contains fungal pathogens that can cause valley fever, and now, residents are concerned about how construction could spread these pathogens and other particulate matter by stirring up dust into the air.

“How are kids going to be able to play outside?” Melanie Richardson, a local resident and nurse who has children that attend nearby schools, told the Los Angeles Times. “So many people from our community were begging them not to approve this project, and they passed it regardless.”

The clean energy project, which is expected to power 180,000 homes — with that power estimated to be for wealthy residents along the coast, the Los Angeles Times reported — could also have lasting impacts on the desert ecosystem.