Paving over the desert

Someone pointed out that it is a bit over-dramatic to say that we need to pave over the desert to run this country off of solar. We probably only need to pave over an area a bit larger than Connecticut. Still, I expect that as solar becomes big business we will see a whole lot more articles like this one.

I for one would much prefer filling a mountain with radioactive waste to paving over that much desert. Whether many environmentalists will come to the same conclusion I couldn't say though.