While construction of a massive new solar energy plant in the Mojave Desert is good news for Southern Californians, it is bad news for the desert tortoises that are being relocated as their natural habitat is destroyed.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the track record for tortoise relocation is "dismal" since the reptiles tend to wander back to their original homes. Stressed out from being in unfamiliar terrain, they are more vulnerable to predators, respiratory disease, dehydration and getting run over by off-road vehicles.

The federally protected tortoises, which can live to 100, don't need to be uprooted. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, along with many wildlife and conservation groups, say there are other suitable areas for solar plants to be built.

Sen. Feinstein has introduced the California Desert Protection Act(CDPA), a bill to establish two national monuments in the Mojave Desert that would protect 1 million acres of land that's home to the tortoises, bighorn sheep and other wildlife. It

Please help save these endangered animals -- and preserve this beautiful natural environment and its resources -- by asking the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to approve this legislation.