Soda Mountain sticks the landing
Governing is a tricky business. Governing in an era of climate crisis, doubly so.
A cramped meeting room in Sacramento office building seems like a strange place to decide the fate of a wild desert landscape hundreds of miles south. But that’s where I was on Monday afternoon, sitting and watching as the California Energy Commission voted 4-0 to approve the controversial Soda Mountain solar project.
Critics said Soda Mountain would disrupt bighorn sheep migration; supporters said those fears were overblown. For more details, see my recent in-depth story.
In theory, Monday’s Energy Commission meeting gave everyone a last chance to make their case. In practice, it felt like bureaucratic performance art.