RFK Jr., Environmentalists Clash over Mojave Solar Proposal. By Colin Sullivan, Greenwire, September 9, 2009. "California's emerging battle over renewable energy development, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has gained new enemies: fellow environmentalists... Among the leaders in [large solar-thermal power plants] is an Oakland-based company called BrightSource Energy, which has been making a splash lately for its plans to build 2.6 gigawatts of power for California's investor-owned utilities, much of it to be located -- on paper, at least -- in the Mojave Desert... But some California-based activists are worried that solar developers like BrightSource are getting a free pass in a headlong rush to build 'clean' energy and capitalize on federal stimulus dollars now available for such projects. These activists have enlisted Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to push for the declaration of a national monument in the desert and intend to unveil legislation with the senator in September that would apparently protect 1 million acres in the eastern Mojave to limit development...
"Kennedy calls the national monument, as it is likely to be drawn, a bad idea... 'I respect the belief that it's all local,' Kennedy said in an interview. 'But they're putting the democratic process and sound scientific judgment on hold to jeopardize the energy future of our country.' But here's the rub: Kennedy has a stake in BrightSource through VantagePoint Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley that was instrumental in raising $160 million in financing for the solar startup. Other investors include Chevron Corp., Google.org and JPMorgan Chase & Co." [Editor's Note: Kennedy's opposition to the Massachusetts Cape Wind project has also been controversial with environmentalists. CCC supports the Cape Wind project but has concerns about massive solar-thermal units, which consume a great deal of water, likely to be mined from deep pristine aquifers, in some fragile desert environments.]
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