Re: [CPEO-MEF] ENERGY, ENCROACHMENT: Northrop Grumman opposes California solar project

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Northrop Grumman's bid to delay Antelope Valley solar project is rebuffed
L.A. County supervisors refuse to put the brakes on the 230-megawatt 
project despite the military contractor's contention that it would 
interfere with its radar testing operations.

By Marc Lifsher
Los Angeles Times
November 24, 2010


The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors denied a request from 
Northrop Grumman Corp. to delay final approval of a major solar project 
in the Antelope Valley near the military contractor's facility for 
testing radar-evading stealth aircraft.

On a voice vote, supervisors rejected Northrop's appeal Tuesday, opting 
to let plans for the 2,100-acre complex of photovoltaic solar panels 
proceed. Final approval is expected Dec. 7.

The company argued that the project would "adversely impact the military 
mission" of the sensitive, 1970s-era testing center, just south of the 
Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the high desert area that 
hopes to host a dozen wind and solar energy farms, didn't buy Northrop's 
national defense argument.

Antonovich cited an e-mail from the Pentagon that described the dispute 
as "a private matter between public parties and Los Angeles County in 
which the Department of Defense has no position."


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-radar-20101124,0,3799824.story


Lenny Siegel wrote:
> Northrop opposes solar energy project
> Defense contractor says high desert facility might interfere with 
> testing of stealth technology on aircraft. A delay could affect millions 
> of dollars in potential federal stimulus funds.
>
> By Marc Lifsher and Tiffany Hsu
> Los Angeles Times
> November 23, 2010
>
>
> Approval for the first of what could be at least a dozen large solar 
> energy projects planned for the high desert near the Los Angeles-Kern 
> County line is under threat from an unlikely source: the military industry.
>
> Northrop Grumman Corp. contends that a proposed 230-megawatt plant near 
> Rosamond to be built by First Solar Inc. could impair operations at a 
> sensitive installation for testing radar-evading stealth technology on 
> aircraft.
>
> Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other supporters fear that if Northrop 
> succeeds in blocking the project, the state would be hobbled in its 
> efforts to create tens of thousands of green-tech jobs and fight global 
> warming by building renewable power plants in the sun-drenched desert of 
> Southern California.
>
> ...
>
> For the entirea article, see
> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-radar-20101123,0,6090313,full.story 



--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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