Earth Equity News

L.A. Eyes Dried Lake Bed for Huge Solar Project. By Phil Wilson, LATimes, February 2, 2010. "First it was silver ore that streamed to Los Angeles from the rim of the Owens Valley, then the water from the valley floor. Now, L.A. has come back for the sunshine. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the agency responsible for turning Owens Lake into a dusty salt flat and snatching up nearly every acre from Lone Pine to Bishop, has its sights on transforming the Owens Valley [some 200 miles north of Los Angeles] into one of largest sources of solar power in America. Interim DWP Chief S. David Freeman says the valley on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada is blessed with the 'best sun in the country.' He envisions a gigantic solar array that could cover 80 square miles of dry lake bed and nearby flatlands, a sea of photovoltaic cells roughly the size of Cleveland that would generate up to 10% of all the power produced in California while simultaneously calming the region's fierce dust storms. Owens Valley residents crowded into a Methodist church recently to hear Freeman's pitch. Though intrigued by the idea of turning the scarred earth at Owens Lake into a source of clean energy and local jobs, many still chafed at L.A.'s near feudal reign over the valley."