Which is more important, to save the global environment or to protect a particular ecosystem?

An article in the Los Angeles Times says that big, national environmental groups are leaning toward saving the planet even at the cost of rare and valuable ecosystems, frustrating local environmental groups who want to preserve those ecosystems.

The current arena is the Mojave Desert, where massive solar projects could provide power to southern California’s throngs, but where the fragile desert and its inhabitants would be better off being left alone.

With the big guns backing the solar projects, the only advocates for animals like the desert tortoise are the small, local enviro groups.

Read the article in the Los Angeles Times.

Photo: Desert tortoise by Rachel London, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service