To the editor: A provocative but misleading trope is that expanding renewable energy production conflicts with the conservation of our public lands, another cherished environmental priority. (“Two Biden priorities, climate and conservation, collide in the California desert,” Jan. 21)Environmental groups raised the alarm when the Trump administration made an 11th-hour attempt to dismantle the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, known as DRECP. AdvertisementFor one thing, the article mentions a few times that the renewable energy industry was annoyed by the added environmental laws, as well as the fact that renewable energy uses metals mined in a somewhat unclean way. It would be interesting to see what environmental impacts would be worse, the destruction of the land in order to build renewable energy plants, or not having access to the cleaner energy. There needs to be more talk of combining several strategies such as rooftop solar and wind farms in the desert.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 24, 2021 11:03 UTC