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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Nina Lakhani in Fort Mohave, Arizona, with photographs by Marshall Scheuttle

In one of the US’s hottest deserts, utilities push gas rather than solar

composite photo of mountain range on the left and man wearing sunglasses and grey top on the right
Left: mountain view overlooking the distant Fort Mohave. Right: resident Mac McKeever in front of the proposed gas peaker plant site. Photograph: Marshall Scheuttle/The Guardian

Retirement was pretty idyllic for Mac and Debbie McKeever, who moved to Fort Mohave in Arizona for the desert views, starry nights and fresh air. The couple hosted cocktails by the pool and taco Tuesdays with their neighbors – an active bunch of Republican-voting retirees with a penchant for gas-guzzling RVs and side-by-sides, and the unlikeliest environmental activists.

However, in late November 2023, the McKeevers found out that the local government, the Mohave county board of supervisors, was about to vote on a zoning proposal for a gas-fired peaker plant less than 1,200ft (0.2 miles) from their middle-class neighborhood Sunrise Hills.

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