So, Do Something

Hetch Hetchy water and power system (Water Educ. Fdn)

Hydroelectric power checks a lot of boxes:

Plentiful source of energy;

No burning of fossil fuels;

Low operating cost;

Water storage.

An updated version, pumped storage, can also provide wind and solar energy storage without the drawbacks of chemical batteries.

One such project has been proposed in "a remote canyon in the towering eastern Sierra."

(Chronicle diagram)

The proposed “pumped-storage” project would essentially bank solar and wind energy by pumping creek water uphill when the power sources are plentiful, say during sunny or windy times, and conversely, send the water back down through power-producing turbines when the energy is needed.

“It’s a great way to manage the intermittency of renewable energy,” said Frank Wolak, an economics professor at Stanford University and director of the school’s Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, who called pumped storage “ideal” for helping the state scale up its clean power.

Construction would occur mostly on Federal land. At risk would be

a landscape known for its brown trout and bighorn sheep, unparalleled alpine vistas, and pristine rivers and lakes.

Politicians must weigh the habitat of sheep and fish and "vistas" which only a few people have the time and money to see, against the millions of Californians who would benefit from increased water, electricity, and alternative energy storage.

The choice is obvious, but I don't give it much of a chance. The very influential people who say the planet is doomed unless we do something don't seem to want to do something (or they don't really believe the planet is doomed).