The endangered Dixie Valley toad lives in the wetlands (foreground) only half a mile away from the Dixie Meadows Geothermal Project, 100 miles east of Reno, Nevada.
Andrew Satter/Bloomberg
New Energy
Rare Toad, Clean Energy Face Off in Clash of US Green Priorities
A stopped geothermal project highlights the complexity of environmental review, a process the Biden administration seeks to streamline.
The Biden administration is doing all it can to promote geothermal energy as part of its clean energy push. But a 2-inch toad in northern Nevada stands in its way.
Gurgling streams of 130F water, warmed by a geologic fault underneath Dixie Valley, support the only known ecosystem of the Dixie Valley toad, a recently discovered species that federal officials deem to be endangered.