Some forward thinking folks at Israel’s Environment of Environmental Protection have earned the TreeHugger of the day award. Well, we don’t actually have the award, but we think we should when we read news like this from the Haaretz: a massive solar energy project has been criticized for its potential to seriously endanger Israel’s precious wildlife.

In many countries the environment minister promotes clean energy projects from sources like the sun or wind, and demands large areas for this purpose. That is not the case in Israel, where this month Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra announced his opposition to the major solar energy project at Mishor Yamin near Dimona.

Ezra, it is reported, touts environmental reasoning for his opposition. The site of the proposed solar harvesting facility near Dimona would cross about 1,000 acres of land. Rising six to seven meters, the solar panels could damage the plains in the Negev – home to rare flora and fauna habitats. Some of the species are only found in Israel such as the Negev iris. ::Haaretz