The California Report

Solar Realities Part I: Supersized Solar Sites
About a week from now, state officials will open the newest version of their playbook to deal with climate change. Part of that plan is to generate a third of California's energy from low-carbon, renewable sources by 2020. That means the first big push toward utility-scale solar power is on. PG&E recently signed a contract to buy energy from what will be the largest solar energy generating site in the world, but some worry that "super-sizing" solar has sparked a land rush that could compromise California deserts. For the first in our new series, Climate Watch, we head to the sun-baked Mojave.