To the editor: Your article, describing the destruction of habitat and wildlife to build a solar power plant in the Mojave Desert, reminds me of the shameful government-subsidized Solyndra episode that occurred years ago. In that case, the Obama administration guaranteed hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to the solar manufacturer in 2009, but the company filed for bankruptcy a few years later.
The contractor on the Mojave Desert project claimed its equipment was “ready to go,” when in fact it was not.
If we cannot trust the promises made by those building these projects, we risk destroying hundreds of Joshua trees and ending up in technical or financial failure, as happened with Solyndra. This time, we would have nothing to show for it except the destruction of habitat and wildlife.
J. Philip Barnes, St. Peter's
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To the editor: Is there anyone in charge of this ridiculously destructive project who has vision and common sense?
Destroying a vast and fragile ecosystem to build a solar farm that will power distant buildings, when many of those same buildings have perfect rooftops for solar panels, is the very definition of insanity.
We continue to short-sightedly destroy the natural capital that sustains us. How long will it be before the Earth gives up on our species?
Sara R. Nichols, Los Angeles
