Opinion: Kill Joshua trees for a desert solar project? Readers want none of it
LA TimesJoshua trees, such as this roughly 150- to 200-year-old specimen, are threatened with removal because of a solar project near Boron, Calif. It’s been a while since we’ve had such an outpouring for something that doesn’t have to do with Donald Trump: Dozens of readers wrote letters to the editor expressing dismay over the construction of a solar power project in the Mojave Desert — reported by The Times’ Melody Petersen — that requires the destruction of 3,500 Joshua trees. Readers pleading for the survival of Joshua trees suggest alternatives such as more urban rooftop solar and conservation. Why are threatened Joshua trees and endangered desert tortoises being sacrificed for homes so far away? To the editor: The members of Kern County’s Board of Supervisors should be ashamed of themselves and voted out of office for approving the profit-grabbing project that will destroy old-growth Joshua trees and protected wildlife habitat.
History of this topic
As crews chainsaw Joshua trees, Mojave Desert community protests solar energy project
LA Times
Joshua trees bloom more often with climate change, study finds. Here’s why people are worried
LA Times
As California’s climate grows ever more hostile, a Joshua tree rescue plan takes shape
LA Times
Solar project to destroy thousands of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert
LA Times
In a charred moonscape, a band of hopeful workers try to save the Joshua tree
NPR
California’s famed Joshua trees are burning up fast. They might be impossible to replace
LA Times
Editorial: Finally, a plan to save Joshua trees from climate change — and the bureaucrats
LA Times
Newsom administration offers legislation to protect western Joshua tree
LA Times
California Joshua tree is not threatened, regulators say. It could bring more development
LA Times
Seedling by seedling, Joshua trees will rise again in fire-scorched desert
LA Times
California grants western Joshua trees temporary endangered species protections
LA Times
Renewable energy corporations fight endangered species status for Joshua trees
LA TimesDiscover Related
