Two neighboring communities along Route 66 in California have a lot in common.  Both Daggett and Newberry Springs are on a major East-West corridor with Interstate-40, Route 66, the BNSF rail line, major gas pipelines, fiber-optics, and the Mojave River that runs through both.  They share Old Western characteristics of frontier development, mining exploration, and travel.

    Their clear night skies and unspoiled landscapes created an inner sense of spiritual peace for the early inhabitants.  The original native tribes harvested berries and roots along the Mojave River.  Unfortunately, peace never lasts long.

The Daggett Community Services District's building and the Daggett Museum.

    The County of San Bernardino recently surprised both communities when Newberry Springs residents discovered that the corrupt county government had been secretly working with renewable energy developers to place approximately 4,700 acres of renewable energy solar panels, numbering approximately 700,000 panels, inside the two localities.  Daggett wasn't aware that 3,500 acres of the 4,700 were being secretly planned for their community until Newberry Springs residents informed them.

    The county's movement to industrialize their Silver Valley with miles of solar panels will devalue residential property values.  As the highly desirable rural setting is transformed into industrial, families are expected to settle elsewhere causing a closure of elementary schools, churches, and other local services due to a lack of population.

    Rather than being like Newberry Springs which is rising to arms over the announcement of a 1,200-acre solar development in its community, that will devastate the lifestyle and the future economic growth of the community, Daggett appears to be embracing their proposed project.

    The Daggett Community Service District's directors appear to be expecting good things to develop from their 3,500-acre solar project.  Daggett years ago received some short-lived notoriety from the Southern California Edison's uniquely designed Solar I project, and later Solar II.  Daggett is strangely expecting the same thing to happen again where people will visit Daggett to see their solar farm.

    That won't happen.  Large solar farms are now far too common.  The attraction of solar is gone.  The Daggett directors' further expectation of acquiring menial grunt labor jobs of hosing-off photovoltaic panels with automated equipment will be few, with most jobs probably not going to the community members.

    A short tour through Daggett today will illustrate the economic benefits that Solar 1 and Solar 2 has done for Daggett.  Zilch!  There is no place in Daggett for tourists to spend their money.

    No new taxes will be collected for the many square miles of solar panels due to state law, and public service fees will go to the county, Daggett will be left with the costly public service expenditures resulting from the facility.

    On the desert's high-wind days, the desert's real estate does move.  Moving sand is not a health issue, the issue is the finer particulate dust that can fly far higher and travel vast distances that is the killer.  The undisturbed land has a natural bacteria growth that helps to hold the dust down, when disturbed, the fine dust particles easily fly in high winds.

    While Daggett's residents will undoubtedly have some fine crystalline silica particulate in high-wind air, the deadly hazard will drastically increase after many thousands of adjacent acres are disturbed.  Daggett is on a Sand Transport Path.  The deadly silica dust will subject Daggett residents and neighboring communities to silicosis, a serious and irreversible lung disease, and cancer.

    The Daggett directors seem to be unclear about the Initial Study, Scoping, and the Environmental Impact Study that haven't been done yet, however, they appear to be thrilled that an engineer for the Daggett project will be coming to personally meet with them, and give a presentation.  Some of the directors seem so excited about being lobbied that they appear to be bubbling over with project approval.

    Daggett has a historical heritage that the directors should be building upon by preserving the ambiance of the open spaces of the Old West.

    That open space, which is so important for an early West tourist attraction, is being given-up by Daggett for the clutter of eyesore waves of industrial-scale junk which is unnecessary as the state of California has already met it's renewable energy generation goals through the year 2030, and with the future increases in rooftop solar, the desecration of the desert isn't necessary.  The problem is the continued flow of outrageous Washington grants to energy developers who are donating to election campaigns.

    There appears to be no concern in Daggett about the negative impacts to scenic Route 66, the neighboring airport, nor the potential decline to the health of Daggett's citizens and neighboring communities.

Daggett's Desert Market on Santa Fe Street.

    From such a historical place, one would expect a strong Stewardship pride of the land.  Unfortunately, Daggett has reached the bottom and now appears ready to allow its piece of America's landscape to be desecrated by a company for profit.

    The Daggett CSD directors should be the vanguard representatives of Daggett's preservation.  One would expect the community to be championing a strong historical image of their Western community.  Instead, they are hiding it under foreign solar panels.