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Randy Watkins

@bluetortoise3.bsky.social

970 followers 640 following 170 posts

Lead Field Biologist on large water and power projects in the Eastern Mojave, from 1999-2010 for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Link: https://www.snwa.com/infrastructure-improvements/intake3-pumping-station/index.html

www.snwa.com

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · Aug 4

I’ve been working on the NV Energy Greenlink West project since March as an Authorized Biologist (A.B.). An A.B. is authorized by the USFWS to handle Threatened or Endangered species, and in the eastern Mojave Desert I handle Threatened Mojave Desert tortoises. 🐢

www.nvenergy.com/cleanenergy/...

NV Energy

NV Energy proudly serves Nevada with a service area covering over 44,000 square miles. We provide electricity to 2.4 million electric customers throughout Nevada as well as a state tourist population ...

www.nvenergy.com

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 7h

It was outdated technology almost from the beginning of construction. I’m not sure why the project was completed other than commitment, but the biology staff dealing with the wildlife problems, especially migratory birds incinerated in the mirror fields, horrified everyone including the contractors.

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Reposted by Randy Watkins

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 11h

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 7h

What would you like to know?

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 8h

I spent 4 years working on this, but it was a bad project, not least due to the location next to a big golf course w/ prominent water features that attracted large numbers of migratory birds that were incinerated flying through the solar fields. www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/big-green/ca...

California Shuts Down Its Solar Thermal Plant 13 Years Early

The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility is set to shut down in 2026 after failing to meet its energy targets. Ivanpah…

www.instituteforenergyresearch.org

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 9h

Yeah, I agree Dustin. I think you’re right from what I know of working with these developers on the mitigation measures.

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 9h

This is terrible criteria for abandoning solar projects in the Mojave desert, which are not decisions based on biological resource impacts, normally accounted for and mitigated 👋, but financial feasibility without the investment tax credits. It’s bad for long-term plans for solar power development.

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 9h

Yes, I remember that article and I agree, that is happening now and it will continue to happen. Abandonment.

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 10h

It was controversial, but the reasons for the cancellation appear to be for no other reason than animosity towards solar, unless we hear something different.

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 10h

Goddamnit, that was one of the major reasons for the construction of Greenlink West by NV Energy, which I am currently working on. I was really concerned that that would happen.

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 10h

Would that be the Esmeralda Seven? I expect Trump will create chaos with solar construction in Southern California and Nevada, and create turmoil with the industry.

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 20h

I hadn’t heard of Heins, but it sounds promising. My work is w/ the construction of solar fields and transmission lines in the Mojave desert that lease federal lands for the projects and have significant environmental controls in the contracts. Prof Mulvaney might have. @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 21h

Yes, I’ve thought about it, although up until a few weeks ago I was working on Saturdays on a green energy transmission line project in Nevada. The project has been significantly slowed by permit issues with the DOD, or should I say DOW? I wasn’t a paid subscriber, but I’m going to upgrade to paid.

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 22h

You’re one of the few people here who writes about the psychological unfitness of Trump and his effect on public mental health. I follow the psychologists Dr. Bandy Lee who published “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump”. Drs. John Gartner and Harry Segal retiring “Shrinking Trump” is disappointing.

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Reposted by Randy Watkins

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility @peer.org · 22h

Federal agencies are drawing up plans to fire employees who would typically be furloughed during a shutdown. For the National Park Service, the proposed layoffs would be devastating.

🔗 https://ow.ly/AeLE50X9fnL

#shutdown #NationalParks

COMMENTARY | Shutdown Could Provide Glimpse into the Future of Public Lands

The Department of Interior is gearing up to slash its workforce, and as past shutdowns indicate, this means danger ahead for our parks and public lands.

ow.ly

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Reposted by Randy Watkins

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 1d

🎵 They did the Monster Slash 😭 @ellecordova.bsky.social

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Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 2d

Some additional info on the new list of axed DOE projects circulating.
- All 7 H2 Hubs
- All 13 IRA grants to convert at-risk auto plants to EV mfg
- 11 of 15 grants to speed domestic clean energy mfg in former coal communities
- 10 of 38 grants for battery materials
heatmap.news/politics/doe...

Trump to Axe All 7 Hydrogen Hubs, Bucking Bipartisan Law

A new list of Department of Energy grants slated for termination will hit clean energy and oil majors alike, including Exxon and Chevron.

heatmap.news

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 2d

What I see in his eyes is not animosity. It’s fear. And that’s not good.

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 2d

Bondi’s behavior is exactly what we should expect from any Trump administration cabinet member to be; incredibly arrogant, juvenile, and hostile to any adult supervision.

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Reposted by Randy Watkins

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 3d

wouldn't it be nice to walk away from the consequences of one's bad decisions?

"heads I win, tails we flip again"

SCP @10-5.bsky.social · 3d

“I didn’t vote for this”

Yes you did.

Yes you did.

Not only did you vote for it, but all of us told you about it, and so did the person you voted for, and so did half of the people who voted for him.

Yes you did vote for it.

You voted for this, and now we have it, and you don’t get to lie now.

John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 14d

If you voted for him, you've done this.

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Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 4d

The ESA protects wildlife and its habitat by preventing illegal “Take“, a legal word meaning “harass, harm, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct“ except by federal permit. Removing HARM protection will increase their greatest threat: habitat loss.

Sierra Magazine @sierramagazine.bsky.social · 4d

The Endangered Species Act has protected species and their habitats for over 50 years. A single word change could significantly alter the way the law is implemented. The only beneficiaries of this plan are extractive industries. 🌎 by @morgansjogren.bsky.social

This One Word Change Could Gut Our Strongest Conservation Law

The bipartisan Endangered Species Act is on the line as the federal government proposes a new change

www.sierraclub.org

Randy Watkins @bluetortoise3.bsky.social · 7d

youtube.com/live/-foS1FI...

Book Talk: Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez — Science Under Siege

YouTube video by Politics and Prose

youtube.com

Reposted by Randy Watkins

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 7d

"Book Review: A Call to Arms About the Threat of Anti-Science" | Great review of #ScienceUnderSiege by Dan Falk for @undark.org magazine: undark.org/2025/10/03/b...

Book Review: A Call to Arms About the Threat of Anti-Science

"Science Under Siege," by Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez, is an impassioned manifesto against attacks on science.

undark.org

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Reposted by Randy Watkins

Bob Berwyn @bberwyn.bsky.social · 8d

Despite what some want you to believe, the U.S. science enterprise is far from defunct. New projects that could make make important data and reports more accessible than ever are in progress ...