Christine Bubser

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all support the Cadiz project but have also endorsed Bubser. Further three business associations that are comprised of demographic groups that lean democratic have endorsed the Cadiz Water Project , the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce, and Greater Riverside Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 25 H AIWEE G EOTHERMAL L EASING A REA Bubser is against opening the Rose Valley of the Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area to $1 billion in new investments for green energy because she believes that the Environment Impact Statement (EIS) conducted for the project is flawed. 26 Bubser gives no details and cites no studies to substantiate her claims. The BLM estimates that the cumulative economic benefits of the new geothermal projects in Rose Valley will generate $72 million in local expenditures and 250 jobs during the construction phase, with $3 million in annual revenues once the plant is operational. 27 The LA Times in a January 24, 2020 article about the project seems to have a less hostile tone than halfway through 2019. 28

The BLM move was cheered by some green-energy advocates, who contend that concerns about environmental damage are exaggerated and remind critics that the power they provide can help the state achieve its climate change goals. Just east of Rose Valley, on a mountain within the high-security China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center in Inyo County, Coso Operating Co. has operated four geothermal power plants since 1987. The Coso site, which supplies about 8% of the entire geothermal power in the United States, has generated more than $135 million in property and sales taxes for the county over the past 20 years. In Rose Valley below, the BLM is currently reviewing three pending lease applications for 4,460 acres of land sought by two U.S.-based geothermal companies, BLM officials said.

If approved, they would add to a surge of interest in solar, wind power and geothermal energy development in California.

25 “Project Support.” Cadiz Water Project. Accessed May 11, 2020. 26 Earth Day Town Hall with Chris Bubser for Congress, 4.22.20, Timestamp: 1:34:19-1:34:56 April 27, 2020. 27 “Water District Addresses Haiwee Geothermal Project Concerns,” Ridgecrest Daily Independent , February 12, 2020. 28 Louis Sahagun, “ENERGY PROJECT A NEW RISK FOR CALIF. DESERT; Trump's vision for the Owens Valley: a huge geothermal site,” Los Angeles Times , January 24, 2020.