There are two holes the size of bulldozers in the argument made
by Johanna Wald in "Clearing Up the Record on Solar Energy on
Public Lands", that opening public lands to large scale
industrial solar development is a necessary "sacrifice" to fight
climate change (see similar arguments from The Wilderness
Society and Climate Progress). First, I'm reminded of a remark
made by an energy attorney friend who has fought destructive
uranium, coal and oil and gas energy development for almost 30
years, that..."solar is just like any other industrial energy
development". He was right. Oil and gas development has site
specific well pad surface impacts, but enormous below ground,
water and air quality/climate impacts. Industry has, over the
years, reduced surface impacts (at least in theory, if not
practice) by drilling multiple wells from a single well pad and
spacing them out. Industrial solar impacts 100% of the surface
for literally square miles (see the photo of the first phase
construction for BrightSource/ISEGS be