A Native American group has banded together to try to put the brakes on six solar energy projects in the California desert, delaying the creation of hundreds of construction and technical jobs in a region with some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

The Native American activists argue in a lawsuit that the Obama administration has not properly considered damages the project would cause the environment and nearby cultural resources such as ancient geoglyphs and ground markings.

One Native American tribe has already blocked the start of construction on one solar thermal energy project in the Imperial Valley. That project--as well as one mentioned in the lawsuit--now appears to be dead because of financial troubles.

The various Native American groups feel the fast-tracked approval of the projects offered them little time to comment on the projects.

“Rather than be smart from the start by utilizing ecologically degraded sites first, a reckless and scientifically unmerited decision has been made to instead race into our most pristine desert and obliterate some of the most botanically significant lands in California," said Jim Andre, a University of California Riverside botanist, in a press release. "This scale of an impact has never occurred before. When you consider the importance of these (eco) systems to provide corridors for species to move as climate changes, whether its human caused change, or just the natural course of variation in climate change, you’ve really done in the entire ecosystem at that scale."

About two million acres across California are being eyed for solar projects.

Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter: @peard33.