The Bureau of Land Management has canceled its environmental review for Esmeralda 7, a plan to construct seven interconnected solar farms across roughly 185 square miles of desert in southern Nevada. The sprawling project, if completed, could have generated enough electricity to power nearly 2 million homes.
The agency said the review was “terminated for cause” but did not elaborate. A BLM spokesperson noted that developers are still welcome to submit proposals for smaller, site-specific solar projects instead.
For environmental advocates like Jackie Spicer of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, the decision reflects a broader pattern of retreat from large-scale renewable investments on public lands.
“Grid-scale renewable energy and storage are necessary to speed up our transition to a clean energy economy,” Spicer said.
The Esmeralda 7 project was seen as a cornerstone of Nevada’s effort to expand clean energy generation and meet the Biden administration’s goal of achieving 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035 — a target now in jeopardy after several recent federal pullbacks on solar initiatives.
Still, not everyone welcomed the project. Conservation groups, including Basin and Range Watch, have long argued that projects of this size threaten fragile desert ecosystems.
“Developing that many solar panels in that area would require a lot of removal of habitat,” said Kevin Emmerich, the group’s co-founder. “I am not against green energy at all, I just think that this type of wholesale development of these real special areas is not appropriate.”
The debate underscores a growing tension across the West: how to rapidly expand renewable energy infrastructure while preserving the natural landscapes that define the region.
In recent months, the BLM has paused or canceled reviews of several major solar projects across the Southwest, citing environmental concerns — a series of moves that could reshape where and how the next generation of clean energy gets built.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
