Solar Farm Will Wipe Out Thousands of Joshua Trees. How Green Is That?

A California-based company is planning to develop a solar farm in the Mojave Desert, which will involve clearing thousands of protected Joshua trees from parts of the 2,300-acre project site. The company, Avantus, will develop the solar project in the Boron and Desert Lake area of eastern Kern County—which is home to 20 sensitive wildlife species, including the Mojave desert tortoise and ground squirrel, as well as an estimated 80,000 acres of western Joshua tree habitat—according to a statement from the company. The project will ultimately have a solar generation capacity of up to 530 megawatts, which can power approximately 420,000 households simultaneously, and a battery energy storage system of up to 600 megawatts, enough to power 480,000 homes, according to its website....