Desert Biodiversity's Jim André and Margaret Fusari will present a symposium session on the conservation implications of massive renewable energy development in the California deserts. This session is part of the inaugural Society for Conservation Biology North America Congress for Conservation Biology, to be held July 15-18, 2012 in Oakland, California.

This session will include a number of other renowned speakers on the renewable energy issue and promises to be very informative. Conference registration information (including fees and volunteer opportunities) can be found here.

The below description of the symposium is taken from the SCBNA website.

Conservation vs. Sacrifice: Weighing the Consequences of Utility-scale Renewable Energy Development in the California Deserts

Collectively, the California Deserts represent one of the largest remaining intact ecosystems in North America. Two key anthropogenic processes, global climate change and the rapid deployment of renewable energy projects in pursuit of reversing global climate change, currently threaten native desert species and ecosystem processes. Presently the Department of Interior is reviewing several hundred applications for renewable energy development on 70,000 ha. (2,700 sq. mi.) of public lands in the California Deserts.

While focusing on solutions to the global climate crisis, scientists and land managers may be ignoring or even creating ecological impacts that will undermine the intended conservation benefits of reversing global climate trends. Detrimental impacts to desert ecosystems by massive utility-scale energy development over extremely large areas are likely to be severe, and far more complex than are broadly understood. Many of the projects are being implemented without full assessment of the best available science. Viable alternatives, such as the use of already degraded lands, rooftops, and adoption of energy conservation measures, would resolve the conflict between meeting renewable energy goals and adhering to sound conservation practices are available and need to be fully considered.

Our papers will clarify the types and scale of impacts to California's desert ecosystems based upon currently proposed renewable energy projects. Conservation practitioners need to understand the levels and kinds of ongoing impacts in California's deserts, the political and regulatory policies that drive them, and adhere to standards and practices that minimize ecological costs. Finally, we will present viable alternatives for siting and project mitigation that avoid many of those impacts without compromising the nation's renewable energy goals. Emerging conservation researchers need a clear understanding of the intersection of conservation and energy development needs and practices. For this symposium presentations will be followed by a moderated panel discussion, and with overview questions put to the speaker-panelists in advance.