{"id":305504,"date":"2024-03-01T19:19:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305504"},"modified":"2024-03-01T19:35:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:35:31","slug":"rural-america-set-to-be-transformed-by-up-to-55-million-acre-federal-solar-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305504","title":{"rendered":"Rural America set to be transformed by up to 55 million-acre federal solar plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kevin Stocklin:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Solar energy\u2019s appetite for vast amounts of land has prompted the Biden administration to propose designating as much as 55 million acres of public lands as potential sites for industrial-scale solar farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s an area larger than 36 states and similar in size to Idaho or Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An updated initiative<\/a> by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), called the Western Solar Plan, proposes six alternatives for solar development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the most aggressive of these scenarios, 55 million acres across 11 Western states would be made available for solar energy. The least aggressive alternative would designate 8 million acres for that purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BLM\u2019s \u201cpreferred alternative\u201d falls halfway between the two, setting aside 22 million acres for solar development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, the BLM manages 162 million acres of public land designated as \u201cmulti-use.\u201d These multiple uses include farming, ranching, hunting and fishing, hiking and camping, drilling, and mining\u2014and more recently, wind and solar installations and transmission lines to connect them to the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BLM, a division of the Department of the Interior, states that, in order to carry out the Biden administration\u2019s goal of generating 25 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from wind and solar on public lands by 2025\u2014and generating 100 percent \u201crenewable\u201d electricity by 2035\u2014solar panels would need to be sited on 700,000 acres of public land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 3 million solar panels are required to produce 1 GW of electricity, according to the Department of Energy. One GW can power 500,000 to 750,000 homes on average, assuming a constant supply of energy generation and use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Interior Department\u2019s work \u2026 is crucial to achieving the Biden\u2013Harris administration\u2019s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035,\u201d Laura Daniel-Davis, acting deputy secretary of the Interior, said in a Jan. 17 statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this updated solar roadmap will help us get there in more states and on more lands across the West,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The states targeted for solar development include Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. This initiative is part of a wider effort to satiate the demand for land from solar companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheer scope of the BLM plan\u2014designating tens of millions of acres for solar development when the agency says 700,000 acres would suffice to meet Biden administration goals\u2014is a red flag for many communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dylan Hoyt, the planning program manager in the Utah Public Lands policy coordinating office, calls it \u201cbad optics\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I say bad optics, I mean when you tell me that I have 17,000 acres in Utah that\u2019s set aside for solar, and now we\u2019re going to jump to 3.7 or 1.5 million,\u201d he told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat looks terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental groups and advocates for wind and solar energy applauded the plan. The Wilderness Society issued a statement<\/a> that \u201cin the face of climate pressure and the injustices of our current fossil fuel-based energy system, a rapid transition to a renewable energy economy is necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Los Angeles Times published a supportive op-ed<\/a> that stated: \u201cBiden\u2019s Western solar plan sounds scary, but it\u2019s better than climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article mentions Robert Moses, New York\u2019s mid-20th-century unelected Parks and Recreation Commissioner, who was responsible for enormous urban planning projects, including parks, bridges, and highways that crisscrossed the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among Mr. Moses\u2019s more notorious mega-projects were highway systems such as the Cross Bronx Expressway that ran through urban communities and turned once-vibrant neighborhoods into slums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man walks across an overpass above the Cross Bronx Expressway, a notorious stretch of highway that is often choked with traffic and contributes to pollution and poor air quality, in New York City on Nov. 16, 2021. (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Destroying the Environment to Save It\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some who are on the receiving end of the BLM\u2019s solar plan say that, despite assurances from environmental groups, they remain concerned about the scale of this government development project and the amount of land that it would consume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey say we have to protect the environment, but they\u2019re OK with destroying the environment to save it,\u201d Gabriella Hoffman, policy analyst and host of the \u201cDistrict of Conservation\u201d podcast, told The Epoch Times. \u201cIt makes no sense if you\u2019re a conservationist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report<\/a> by The Nature Conservancy, published in May 2023, states that reaching the goal of net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 by using wind and solar would require more than 250,000 square miles, or 160 million acres, of land, which is an area about the size of the state of Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some communities that find themselves in the path of the wind and solar industries say this is too high a price to pay for an uncertain benefit. Energy analyst Robert Bryce keeps a database<\/a> of more than 600 local communities that have opposed wind and solar installations across the United States to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis idea that we can save the environment by carpeting the rural landscape with oceans of solar panels and forests of wind turbines\u2014it boggles the mind how climate activists can justify this,\u201d he told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To subdue local resistance, some states, most recently Michigan, are writing new laws<\/a> that prevent local communities from blocking wind and solar projects. However, some in the Western states say they still expect significant pushback to the BLM plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely going to impact wildlife,\u201d Mr. Hoyt said. And not only an impact on species that live in the designated solar zones but also on those that migrate through them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely going to be conflicts with ranchers, there could be conflicts with access to public lands depending on where it\u2019s built, and there could be potential conflicts with the mining industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStates didn\u2019t really have a say in the goals in the first place, which I think is disconcerting because the states represent the citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solar farm sits next to a housing development in Columbia, Mo., on March 15, 2023. The Biden administration wants the United States to generate 100 percent \u201crenewable\u201d electricity by 2035. (Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Multi-Use to Single-Use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the prime target states for solar development is Nevada, both because of the amount of sunlight it receives and because of its proximity to California and Las Vegas, with their ever-expanding demands for electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government owns 85 percent of Nevada\u2019s land, most of which is desert, but residents dispute the notion that it is devoid of wildlife and say they are concerned about the sheer scale of BLM\u2019s solar plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNevada is hard-rock mining country,\u201d Andy Rieber, a public lands consultant residing in Nevada, told The Epoch Times, \u201cbut the average footprint in Nevada for mining disturbance is less than 1,000 acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking at the proposed solar developments in the state of Nevada, there are a few small ones, but most of them are running around 4,000 to 5,000 acres,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s one standout project that is a complex of seven contiguous facilities and would encompass approximately 62,000 acres, which is a lot of land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while many climate activists wouldn\u2019t shed a tear at the loss of mining, drilling, and cattle farming, local communities say they depend on them for food, energy, jobs, and tax revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the oil and gas industry, there\u2019s a royalty on everything that comes out of the ground, and a percentage of that ends up going back to the counties,\u201d Mr. Hoyt said. \u201cWith solar, that doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey come in, they build on federal lands, and they pay a permit fee to the Bureau of Land Management, but the local economy gets nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the BLM initiative touts \u201cenvironmental justice\u201d among its guiding principles, people in targeted states worry that poorer rural communities will feel the impact of solar development but that the electricity produced will be delivered to wealthier urban centers in states such as California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we need to be considerate of environmental impacts,\u201d Mr. Hoyt said. \u201cBut at the same time, we\u2019re coming in and we\u2019re putting a huge transmission line and a solar field, and then when it\u2019s done those people still have it there and have to look at it and live with it, but they get nothing from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another issue that many cite with using multi-use public lands for solar is that solar energy crowds out other uses on the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things that is unique about solar development is that it doesn\u2019t really play well with others,\u201d Mr. Rieber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you have a grazing allotment, a lot of things can go on in and around that, including recreation, even mining,\u201d he said. \u201cBut a large solar installation is going to take a big chunk of land out of multiple-use circulation because you can\u2019t do anything else with it; it\u2019s a singular use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because utility-size solar installations such as the ones contemplated by BLM blanket entire areas with solar panels, often wiping out the vegetation and wildlife in those areas, both above ground and beneath it, they often displace farming, grazing, hunting, and recreation while also preventing drilling and mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always try to have multiple use and sustained yield since 1976; that\u2019s what Congress told us to do,\u201d Mr. Hoyt said. That was the year that the Federal Land Policy and Management Act was passed, specifying how federal multi-use lands were to be administered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut when solar comes in on these federally managed public lands, you lose that multiple-use component,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want it [solar] to be part of the portfolio, and if we can do that with the minimum amount of conflict possible, that would be ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Alternative Proposal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In response to the BLM\u2019s solar plans, several agencies in western states have developed their own proposal, called \u201cSmart from the Start\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea behind it is essentially to limit solar development to so-called brownfield sites, such as closed landfills, superfund sites, and shuttered mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plan provides a more specific definition of \u201cdisturbed lands\u201d and would limit solar development to disturbed lands and \u201clow conflict lands,\u201d and would exclude wildlife habitats and migration corridors, locations near farms or residential areas, and lands that are in use for farming, ranching, tourism, recreation, or industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it actually creates a template for locating solar in the most reasonable areas that would preserve habitat,\u201d Mr. Rieber said. \u201cThat represents good planning, smart planning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, however, \u201cthe BLM has decided not to carry this alternative forward,\u201d he said. \u201cI would say that this is a very disappointing reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the BLM\u2019s Western Solar Plan, the Smart From the Start alternative was dismissed as \u201csubstantially similar\u201d to terms already in the BLM plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But state officials say there are substantial differences, arguing that Smart From the Start offers more precise criteria of what land should qualify for development and that it would make far less land available for development than the BLM\u2019s preferred alternative of 22 million acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Epoch Times reached out to the BLM to comment on this and other issues regarding its Western Solar Plan. The BLM responded with links to fact sheets and the plan but declined an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local officials say that plans for energy development must include not only a diverse array of energy sources but also a significant portion of \u201cbase load\u201d energy, such as nuclear, gas, and coal, that can be ramped up and down as needed to balance out weather-dependent sources like wind and solar. And they say that needs to be done while minimizing the impact on public lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUtah doesn\u2019t have a lot of oil, but we do have pretty phenomenal geothermal resources,\u201d Mr. Hoyt said. \u201cA geothermal plant that could power the same amount of energy as a solar field that maybe takes up 640 acres might take somewhere around 40 acres, so it\u2019s a significantly smaller impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor oil, because of the more modern technologies that we\u2019re seeing with fracking, you don\u2019t have to put as many wells in as you used to, so you can have that smaller footprint, and you can also have a lot of what we call no-surface disturbance,\u201d he said. \u201cMost people don\u2019t even realize they\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmental Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Recently, some who have long backed the wind and solar industries in the hopes of reducing global temperatures have also appeared to be growing concerned about the environmental impact of these technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A May 2023 report<\/a> in the Guardian newspaper stated that solar farms in California have turned a natural oasis into what one resident called \u201ca dead solar sea\u201d. Examining 150,000 acres of solar development in the Mojave Desert, the report looked at the \u201cdevastating impact\u201d on local wildlife, the drying up of local wells from the solar panels\u2019 massive consumption of water, and the harm to the health of nearby communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmentalists said this section of the Mojave Desert was home to vegetation such as 1,000-year-old woodlands that captured carbon from the atmosphere and sequestered it in root systems underground. Residents spoke of dust storms that cause respiratory problems, as local vegetation that had held soil in place was destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Rieber points to what he calls a \u201cspecial convergence\u201d among various interest groups across the political spectrum, from hunters and farmers to conservationists, who will feel the impact of solar development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re converging around this idea that we should be mindfully siting these developments in areas where we\u2019re not going to be sacrificing the health of communities, we\u2019re not going to be sacrificing important wildlife habitat, we\u2019re not going to be substantially affecting species and source-water protection areas and things like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Comment Period<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The BLM reports that it has, as of December 2022, permitted more than 9 GW of solar energy development, 3 GW of wind energy development, and 1.6 GW of geothermal energy development on public lands. The BLM has also permitted 17 transmission lines crossing BLM-administered lands to connect these facilities to the electric grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public comment period for this latest initiative runs through April 18 and features a number of in-person and online hearings that are listed on the BLM website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou too can weigh in; you don\u2019t need to be a policy analyst; you can be a regular citizen,\u201d Ms. Hoffman said. \u201cThis is what these comment periods are for; you can just write a sentence, simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, public officials believe there\u2019s a way to allow solar development that will be acceptable to local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question on the table isn\u2019t whether solar is good or bad; I think everyone ascertains that there is a place for it,\u201d Mr. Rieber said. \u201cThe question on the table, rather, is let us proceed with this development in a way that we won\u2019t regret in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hoyt said that if the BLM proceeds with the Western Solar Plan as currently written, lawsuits will likely be the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to see litigation around solar development,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have great relationships in Utah with our BLM employees, and we want to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at\u00a0Epoch Times<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Solar energy\u2019s appetite for vast amounts of land has prompted the Biden administration to propose designating as much as 55 million acres of public lands as potential sites for industrial-scale solar farms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":305509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Solar energy\u2019s appetite for vast amounts of land has prompted the Biden administration to propose designating as much as 55 million acres of public lands as potential sites for industrial-scale solar farms.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818336,691827334,691818076,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-305504","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-biden-administration","9":"tag-blm-plan","10":"tag-co2","11":"tag-net-zero","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0554296a5e78dbd98814b9b156a21f1bc.png?fit=1562%2C1162&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1htu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":244206,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=244206","url_meta":{"origin":305504,"position":0},"title":"Biden\u2019s Hometown Just Vetoed A Solar Farm: \u2018No Benefit\u2019 To City","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"18\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Tuesday during his State of The Union speech, President Joe Biden repeated a claim he has made many times over the past few years about renewable energy.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-409.png?fit=1200%2C878&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-409.png?fit=1200%2C878&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-409.png?fit=1200%2C878&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-409.png?fit=1200%2C878&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-409.png?fit=1200%2C878&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":208900,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=208900","url_meta":{"origin":305504,"position":1},"title":"They\u2019re paneling paradise to put up solar \u2014 A lot","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"BY STEVE MILLER: The pathway to a green future involves taking millions of acres of pristine wilderness and turning them into fields of windmills and hot expanses of glistening panels. The Biden Administration\u2019s goal of supplying\u00a040% of the nation\u2019s energy from the sun by 2035\u00a0means covering millions of acres of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-132.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-132.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-132.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-132.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300887,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=300887","url_meta":{"origin":305504,"position":2},"title":"Biden Western Solar Plan will sacrifice 22 million public land acres to fight climate change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"From CFACT By Gabriella Hoffman \u201cThe American public could embrace this latest evolution of our shared domain.\u00a0Or we could reject further industrial development of our public lands and instead preserve them for the sake of wildlife habitat, healthy ecosystems and scenic hikes \u2014 while requiring renewable energy companies to find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"U.S. President Joe Biden\"","block_context":{"text":"U.S. President Joe Biden","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=u-s-president-joe-biden"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00Blackstone-1-1200x800-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/00Blackstone-1-1200x800-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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