BrightSource killed another Ivanpah tortoise recently, my sources have heard from the BLM. BrightSource, or agents thereof, lined a fence at ground level with black plastic — you’ve seen the stuff if you’ve worked landscaping. It’s dark, it’s heavy, it’s shiny: a perfect substance for collecting, concentrating and reflecting heat.
I am told that those people who have companion desert tortoises are warned never to use black plastic in their tortoise’s habitats because the combination of thermal absorption, reflection, and a slippery surface can make a death trap for the torts. I am told that this is common knowledge among tortoise folks.
BrightSource used this plastic on the Ivanpah construction site, and the BLM has confirmed that a tortoise has died as a result. This isn’t the first tortoise death due to construction there. In fact, enough tortoises have died that if they lose one more, the project gets halted, and the company goes back into negotiations with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to see if they can get their allowable “take” raised.
BrightSource would seem to be incompetent at living up to their legal and ethical obligations to refrain from killing endangered species on this site. One more tortoise death would seem inevitable. How about we don’t wait for it to happen?
Tell Interior Secretary Salazar to halt construction now.
Google is dumping money on these thugs. The Interior Department is dumping money on them. Chevron and BP are in deep. Until we hear something about the two lawsuits filed against the project — which may well not proceed until another tortoise dies, through no fault of the plaintiffs — you are the only hope the tortoises have.
We’ve gotten more than 1200 signatures on the petition so far. The recipients have certainly taken notice. But we can get more. If 3,000 people can sign a petition thanking J Crew for an ad involving pink toenail polish, we can certainly get ten times that many to speak out against what could well be the beginning of the end for an endangered species.
If we lose Ivanpah, it sets precedent. If we win and stop it, it stops the juggernaut. Either way, it’s pivotal for the survival of the desert tortoise.
That’s certainly worth your sharing a petition, isn’t it? Putting it on your Facebook page, your Twitter feed, doing a blog post? Have you posted something making fun of Glenn Beck in the last month? Embedded a cat video? Photoblogged your lunch? Re-Tumblrd a post that 400 people have Tumblrd before you? This will take less time than any of those, and you’ll actually feel proud of having done it when you see it again in two weeks.
Imagine if you knew that BP’s Deepwater Horizon was going to blow, and posting something on your page had a chance of getting someone to stop the oil spill.
Imagine how you’d feel if you knew you could have said something but you didn’t.
Now I actually feel bad for deleting my facebook and never bothering with twitter. I’ve posted the petition on my blog but my traffic has been unusually low. I’ll do what I can!
So, I made a little video montage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46OBPeEqCw0