California’s “Clean Energy” Project Will Kill Thousands of Protected Joshua Trees 

California’s “Clean Energy” Project Will Kill Thousands of Protected Joshua Trees 

June 5, 2024

California’s commitment to the green energy movement has once again caused anguish among residents. Local legislators have sparked discontent among the residents of Kern County, with the establishment of the Avantus Aratina solar project on 2,300 acres of land near Boron and Desert Lake. The project, will purportedly power nearly 180,000 homes along the Pacific coast instead of Kern County and its surroundings, has left the residents feeling ignored, and their pleas to save the Joshua Trees and desert tortoises have fallen on deaf ears.  

The trees are meant to be protected under the 2023 Western Joshua Conservation Act (WJCTA), but the project secured approval before the July 2023 vote in the California legislature allowing them to proceed with their original plans. Understandably, residents of the area are confused by this decision.

Fox News reports, 

“Let’s destroy the environment to save the environment. That seems to be the mentality,” Deric English, a teacher at Boron Junior-Senior High School told the LA Times. “It’s hard to comprehend.” California’s efforts to establish and generate clean energy are surrounded by controversy, as is the case with the Aratina project, which highlights the trade-offs state and local officials are willing to make in their quest. In order to develop solar and wind fields that will be used to cut back on greenhouse gases and slow down climate change, projects like Aratina involve the destruction of undeveloped land and harming wildlife and endangered plants.”

Approximately 3,500 trees will be shredded this week in the name of renewable energy. It seems there is nothing the eco-left won’t do to get the “green energy” they desire including harming protected wildlife and plants.