Imperial Valley Solar Project sued by Indian tribe

Just a month after clearing the regulatory hurdle, Tessera Solar’s Imperial Valley Solar Project has run into another obstacle: a lawsuit aiming to stop construction before it even starts.

The Quechan Indian tribe filed a complaint last Friday seeking to force the federal Department of Interior to back off the installation, claiming that it would damage “cultural and biological resources of significance.”

Key among those is the flat-tailed horned lizard, which figures strongly in the tribe’s creation lore. To learn more, check out The Times’ Technology blog.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Comments

[MARCO GARCIA]

Imperial Valley Solar Project sued by Indian tribe

[crow]

Stupid tribe.....

[save the deserts!]

um, this is the first and only legal challenge, sadly. all the Big Enviros were bought off, so it's down to ratepayer, taxpayer and cultural advocates to prevent the wholesale slaughter of healthy important ecosystems for private profits.

these things are wasteful, pointless, destructive and enormously expensive - most of the bill is being paid by taxpayers so that ratepayers can be ripped off.

we need rooftop solar in our built environment. there is nothing "green" about consuming ecosystems and desert groundwater for money, even if the word "solar" is attached.

Big Solar is just Big Oil in a pretty dress. It's more of the same, which is exactly what we CAN'T afford. Local, point of use solutions are cheaper, faster and cleaner. Let's finally get something right.