Deforesting- A Response to the Solar Project

I am an avid supporter of efficiency and conservation regardless of how it is applied or where it is found. I do not see any conservation being practiced in deforesting a single acre in the name of solar power and no efficiency brought to bear when so much energy will be lost in transmission as the array cannot be located close to a “station”. This occurred just recently in a neighboring town – a record setting solar farm for which the vast majority was deforested. Where is the environmentalism here? Much of the logic for supporting such projects is to have “homegrown renewables” to “stabilize” electricity costs. Have we seen any rate relief from our current tyrannical utility, or is this reasoning merely a farce to replace one energy oligopoly with another?

Being a millennial, I grew up watching Captain Planet. In retrospect I’m keenly aware that I’d been programmed to have certain topics evoke heavy emotional responses that might perhaps override critical thought. Before any accusations of hypocrisy are levied, I’d like to establish that as a contractor, without forest products I would be unemployed, and I have my roof covered in solar panels. Furthermore, being a contractor, I do not particularly enjoy watching enormous tracts of land being cleared for housing when there are idle tobacco fields with roadside utilities and moreover, displacing wildlife for which special hunting seasons must be legislated…

My qualm is not with this project per se, rather the green-religion to which society at large is expected to kowtow. As stewards of the Earth, we owe a responsibility to keep our environment sustainably clean through efficiency and innovation of all varieties, regardless of approach. Several ideas for which (outside the knee-jerk “oil bad” reaction) could encompass; eliminating governmental waste borne of sloth or apathy, or putting requisite thought into cost-benefit analyses that factor in things outside dollars and sense (pun intended), or factoring the overall environmental impact (being the project’s initiating rationale) insofar as what took place to manufacture said products etc.

I do not believe we should deforest in the name of environmental conservation without a “1 out, 2 in” approach to our trees. I do not believe the focus of producing electricity should be solely whether it was generated through “renewable” means, if it does diddly-squat to mitigate ratepayers’ hardship(s). Frankly, in this instance, I do not see enough Return On Investment and think Verogy should be paying quadruple the fee at minimum, as many astronomers have stated that wood is rarer than diamonds in our solar system alone. I find it impulsive and arrogant to not consider wildlife displacement whilst patting ourselves (as a species) on the back for helping Mother Earth. Once more, all these issues may not pertain to THIS project, but we mustn’t by default be overcome with jubilation at every mention of the word “solar” and learn to temper our conditioned response(s) with some critical thought from time to time.