Note: The following is an expanded version of an opinion piece I wrote for a recent issue of The Columbia Paper. Some additional information has been added, along with some useful links.
When ordinary citizens reach out for help on a big local problem, they often get brushed off. The same politicians, regulators and nonprofits who profess to protect our Valley tend to be unresponsive—at least, until the issue spills into the streets and splashes across front pages.
I know what that experience can be like. Locally, I’ve been involved with campaigns to stop a dry cleaning waste dump at the Hudson waterfront, the rebuild of a PCB facility which exploded in Ghent, and a massive coal-fired cement plant.
Each time, it took way too long to get traction with the powers that be. So I try my best to take distress calls from folks facing serious community issues.
However, there is one type of distress call I’ll hang up on: the ones which start with “Solar fields are ruining my community!” As one thoughtful Copake resident put it, “Everyone wants sustainability, but no one wants to see it.”
Why no sympathy for solar opponents? Our news this summer is full of dire portents of far worse things to come. If it’s not another drought, heatwave or wildfire, it’s a flood, hurricane or tornado. We barely even pay attention to the latest collapse of another vast ice shelf.
Global warming is speeding up, not slowing down. Its effects are hitting sooner than expected, even as we miss every target for recycling, sustainability and clean energy—such as solar.
The generation now in school may be the last to experience the comforts that many Americans (certainly not all) grew accustomed to between 1950-2020. Today’s kids and grandkids will witness entire regions becoming unlivable, with all the ensuing shortages, chaos and violence.
Think supply chains are disrupted now? As natural disasters escalate, food and water supplies dry up. Basic goods, parts and materials become unobtainable. Eventually, this leads to civil wars and genocidal scapegoating, as humans squabble over the remains of civilization.
Now, I’m familiar with the standard arguments against solar projects. Let’s run through a few:
- “We’re losing all our farms!” Really? The last USDA census showed that Columbia County gained 4,000 acres of farmland from the prior five years. Meanwhile, devoting some land to solar may actually allow farms to stay afloat. But maybe you would rather the farm sold to some giant vinyl “townhome” development, generating tons of traffic and draining the water table?
- “We’re losing local control!” Yes, the State has assumed some responsibility for solar permitting, but only for the largest utility-grade projects. Barely any of these are proposed locally. With most projects, local boards retain powers to extract concessions: low-cost electricity for residents, large buffer areas, non-token screening, and bonds ensuring cleanup if it’s ever decommissioned. Clearly, some planning boards do a better job than others… So by all means, go to meetings and demand sound siting and benefits. Don’t just reflexively oppose it.
- “They’re spoiling our community character”! Fleeting windshield glimpses of solar fields won’t ruin your town. Doing nothing about global warning will. Again, consider the alternative: If a big piece of land goes up for sale, solar is among the lowest-impact uses imaginable. Newer “agrivoltaic” projects even mix ag and solar, such as sheep grazing between the panels.
This summer, I toured a large solar array under construction. It’s well-sited on commercial land, with large buffers. It will be barely visible, and offer reduced electricity rates for locals. The owners live nextdoor. As construction was wrapping up, there were still over 50 workers onsite, earning high wages. And by the way, virtually every worker I saw was a person of color. Whether this was company policy or accidental, it’s good to see a local development lifting more than the usual boats.
At my own home, I’ve installed a modest number of panels to reduce my carbon footprint and become more personally self-sufficient. Community self-reliance is one broad goal we can all get behind, both left and right. With Columbia County’s low population, large forests and plentiful farmland, we might eventually manage to supply our own needs. I’m much less confident about the rest of the world.
But not everyone has the time or cash to grow their own food, chop their own wood and install their own solar. Community and other public solar projects allow everyone to participate in a solution.
So those opposing solar need to ask themselves: How will future generations remember us?
Will our descendants be thankful for our late but dramatic responses to this crisis, or curse our decades of complacency? Will they pine for the wise counsel of their elders, or lament our selfish short-sightedness?
What does “ruin” really mean to you?
