Conservation groups, including Audubon California, have lined up alongside business leaders to lend their support to a 4,800-acre solar power facility along the Kern County/Los Angeles County line. Audubon California and local chapters have expressed a number of concerns about similar facilities up and down the state, but after working closely with the Renewable Resources Group to to mitigate and avoid potential hazards to birds and wildlife, we gave it the thumbs up. "This project meets our criteria for an environmentally responsible renewable energy project through siting on previously disturbed lands with low conflict with biological resources, near transmission and roads, near the electrical load center and near cities that need jobs," wrote Audubon California’s Garry George in a letter of support. This project proves our contention that we shouldn’t have to choose between alternative energy and conservation. We can have both.