We like solar power, right?  In the face of all this debate about coal and oil and gas and whatnot, we can look at solar power and find a solution, right?  Clean, renewable technology that any lover of the environment can get behind, right?

Wrong.

Some environmentalists have started to fight back against solar power, especially in the Southern California deserts, where many solar projects are planned.   The New York Times reports that there are concerns over endangered species, as well as the simple fact that, you know, some people live in the desert and don’t want it spoiled by solar panels everywhere.

But it is also home to the Mojave ground squirrel, the desert tortoise and the burrowing owl, and to human residents who describe themselves as desert survivors and who are unhappy about the proliferation of solar projects planned for their home turf.

‘We’re tired of everyone looking at the desert like a wasteland,’ said Donna Charpied, who lives with her husband, Larry, in Desert Center, Calif.

Some also complain that extensive solar power in the desert will take its toll on the water supply. Washing the panels takes away from the scant amounts of water in Southern California, and some of the panels use steam cleaners, which use even more water.   And then there are chemicals sprayed around the panels to inhibit brush growth, and the fact that some of these solar stations actually have fossil fuel-powered generators.

There’s a sort of NIMBY feeling about the opposition to the solar power, but I can at least see their side.   I mean, if I lived in the Coachella Valley near Joshua Tree, I probably moved there for the scenery, among other things.   I may not want thousands and thousands of acres of solar panels ruining my view.

Some environmentalists in the desert are calling for rooftop panels only to try and provide power.   And some are concerned that the government is against them.   The founder of one environmental group says, Our lawmakers have sold out to the big solar lobby.

Yup.   Big solar lobby.   So we don’t know how this is going to play out, but it very well may escalate.

Donna Charpied said desert residents of California and Nevada were planning some unspecified action within two months. The desert will not go quietly into that dark night, she said.

Kinda ominous.   takepart to learn the pros and cons of rooftop versus desert solar power and decide for yourself what you think.