The Moapa Solar Project in the desert near Las Vegas is the first utility scale solar project on tribal lands in the USA. It is set to come online in 2015. A not-in-my backyard philosophy has sited a lot of the nation’s dirtier energy production facilities on or near tribal lands and the very poorest communities in America. Ironically, this tribe has suffered a disproportionate amount of health problems from an existing dirty coal-fired plant. Now, the Moapa Band of Paiutes will have clean energy from their 350 megawatt solar project with enough left over - and a signed contract - to sell Los Angeles Department of Water and Power electricity for 100,000 homes. During peak construction, Moapa Solar will create 400 jobs.
The reservation is 72,000 acres with set asides for the endangered desert tortoise and room to expand this project. This could be the start of something really big. There are 56 million acres of tribal lands with great potential for solar, wind and geothermal development. Clean energy development creates jobs, helps mitigate climate disruption and looks a head... seven generations to maintain a clean planet for all species.
See also: Inclimate 231, 168, 140, 103, 31, 22, 5; (Solar Orb: Tech Meets Aesthetics) Aug. 20 (Way Big Solar, CA) June 18 (Solar Impulse Breakthrough) May 21 (Solar Decathlon) April 14 (Fun to Power) Jan. 31 (Community Solar) Jan. 22 (Renewables) Jan. 5