This article was originally featured on High Country News.
In early November, at a meeting of Western governors in Jackson, Wyoming, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the advancement of 15 clean energy projects on Western public lands. At the top of the list were the Oberon and Arlington projects in Southern California, two massive solar-plus-storage facilities with a combined generation capacity of 864 megawatts—enough to power more than 250,000 homes, that are fully operational. Other solar, transmission and geothermal projects in various phases of development are also moving forward.
It was a nugget of good news for climate hawks, who see an intensive buildup of low-carbon electricity generation as the only way to avert climate calamity. At the same time, the Biden administration’s willingness to offer up public lands for the cause understandably worries desert advocates and tribal nations who cherish those same lands.
That the planet is heating up is undeniable. After the hottest summer on record, September was so warm globally that one climate scientist described it as “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.” If the science doesn’t move you, then consider what Westerners have experienced in recent months, from melting glaciers in Montana and catastrophic flooding in parts of California, to all-time-high temperatures in New Mexico and Arizona. Extreme heat has killed nearly 600 people so far this year in Maricopa County, Arizona, a new record and a 36% increase from last year. And the heat and resulting dust and wildfire smoke in the air will take an even larger toll in the long term, especially on outdoor workers and underserved communities.
And yet the world’s nations are dillydallying. The title of the United Nations’ annual report on greenhouse gas emissions says it all: Broken Record: Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). The report finds that worldwide emissions, which…
Read the full article here