A Lesson from Icarus: How the Mandate for Rapid Solar Development Has Singed a Few Feathers

Abstract

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS), located in the Mojave Desert in California, is the world’s largest solar thermal power plant. In the summer of 2014, just a few months after the plant opened, local observers noticed that birds were bursting into flames mid-air when they flew through the concentrated sun rays reflected off of the solar mirrors. These deaths are not an isolated incident; potentially tens of thousands of avian wildlife are being killed as a result of solar flux mortality. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife study theorizes that the intense light from the mirror field acts as a “mega-trap” by attracting insects that then attract insect-eating birds, thus “creating an entire food chain vulnerable to injury and death.”

This Note analyzes the policy decisions and the biological impact of the Ivanpah solar plant on the Mojave Desert region in light of the recent bird deaths. Part I analyzes the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Bureau of Land Management’s NEPA compliance. Part II discusses application of the other relevant federal statutes including: the Endangered Species Act (ESA); the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA); and the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA). Part III addresses national environmental policy in the context of clean energy development versus wildlife protection. Specifically, it looks at the green policy conflict through the lens of the Ivanpah solar project. Finally, Part IV looks towards the future of clean energy in the Mojave and proposes how both clean energy development and wildlife protection may not necessarily be mutually exclusive.

Keywords: Ivanpah, ISEGS, BLM, NEPA, EIS, Mojave, solar flux mortality, endangered species, wildlife protection, conservation, green energy, clean energy, renewable energy, energy, ESA, FLPMA, MBTA, BGEPA, bird death, desert tortoise, USFWS, power tower, solar power