Green energy projects face stark environmental, local opposition nationwide

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/green-energy-projects-face-stark-
environmental-local-opposition-nationwide

Green energy development is facing increasing grassroots opposition
nationwide over concerns regarding projects' impact on the environment and
local communities.

In recent years, proponents have aggressively pushed clean energy
alternatives as part of their broader goal to reach net-zero emissions and
transition away from fossil fuel energy in the U.S. and abroad. But wind
turbines, solar farms, hydropower projects and critical mineral production
— all key parts of the clean energy push — have all faced resistance in
the form of environmental lawsuits, legal petitions and local movements.

Shortly after taking office, President Biden announced a lofty goal of
achieving 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and a carbon-free electric grid
by 2035. Just 18% of U.S. electricity generation came from wind, solar and
hydropower in 2021. Another 2% came from other renewable sources.

"Across the country, we're really running into these permitting and social
acceptance challenges with a lot of these technologies," Rich Powell, the
CEO of clean energy advocacy group ClearPath, told Fox News Digital in an
interview.

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS KEEP PUSHING EXTREME MEASURES AMID GLOBAL ENERGY
CRISIS

"We've given people a lot of ways to stop things in this country," he
continued. "So, given that that's the situation that folks are going to
have to build in, I think we just have to be really realistic about what
can be built."

In July, ClearPath released a report that highlighted growing opposition
to wind energy in Iowa, which has the largest wind production of any
state. About half of potential wind development areas in Iowa have been
ruled out for future projects as a result of moratoria passed by counties.

The opposition to wind in Iowa is representative of issues facing wind
development across the country where up to 17 times more wind deployment
is required to meet U.S. net-zero emission goals.

"Our organization really wants to focus on how we go through this
transition and deliberately do it in a way that does not unnecessarily
impact bird populations," said Lewis Grove, the director of wind and
energy at the American Bird Conservancy, a national wild bird conservation
group.

"Wind turbines — they're big and they move and they're up in the sky,
obviously," he told Fox News Digital. "Collisions with birds are a real
concern."

The American Bird Conservancy, which predicts there will be 1.4 million
annual turbine-caused bird deaths by 2030, has filed numerous lawsuits
opposing wind projects and has advocated for stricter siting laws for wind
developers. Grove said while the group was committed to promoting climate
change solutions, it would continue using litigation as a last resort in
cases where wind projects present a major threat to a local bird species.

Similarly, local fishing industry and wildlife groups have filed multiple
lawsuits opposing offshore wind development. In August 2021, a group of
"environmentally-concerned citizens" filed a lawsuit opposing wind
development off the coast of New England over concerns it would reduce
endangered whale species and fishing groups filed their own lawsuits
opposing projects in Massachusetts and New York.

PUSH FOR WIND ENERGY IN THE WEST THREATENS GOLDEN EAGLES

"Offshore wind is by far the most expensive way to get zero-emission
electricity and is probably the most environmentally damaging way to do
so," Dave Stevenson, the director of the Center for Energy Competitiveness
at the Delaware-based free market think Caesar Rodney Institute. "It just
is the worst option we could come up with."

Stevenson filed comments with the Department of the Interior last month in
opposition of an offshore Maryland wind project proposal. He said more
than 1,400 individuals had approached the Caesar Rodney Institute with
concerns over turbine impacts on the environment and local industry.

Major industrial solar projects, like offshore and onshore wind
development, has also experienced an uptick in local pushback.

In 2019, Washington D.C.-based political strategist Susan Ralston founded
Citizens for Responsible Solar, a group dedicated to equipping local solar
opposition efforts with resources and information. She started the group
after successfully defeating an effort in her hometown of Culpeper,
Virginia, blocking construction of a proposed 1,600-acre solar park.

"We raised money, we launched a traditional grassroots campaign, we did
polling, signs and flyers, attended events, did a petition, videos, got
people really active in going to the meetings talking with our planning
commission," Ralston told Fox News Digital in an interview.

JOE BIDEN HAS HAMPERED DOMESTIC ENERGY INDUSTRY WHILE PLEADING FOR MORE
FOREIGN OIL

Ralston said she was motivated to start the group because many rural
communities across the country are unprepared when a major energy
developer proposes a solar project in their county. She said companies
will also approach a local government with promises, but under-deliver
while taking agriculture land out of production and destroying the
environment in the process.

"How do they stand a chance against a national major utility or energy
company coming in and trying to buy up their land? It's very difficult,"
she continued.

"There are plenty of examples where they take productive cropland out of
farming production and then they masquerade these projects," Ralston said.
"Not only is it not available for growing crops anymore, but now you've
endangered the environment because of stormwater erosion and you're
cutting down trees. If your goal is to help with the reduction of CO2 in
the atmosphere, cutting down trees isn't green."

Overall, nearly 60 local municipalities nationwide have proposed moratoria
on new solar development since last year, according to an NBC News report.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, the nation's largest solar
interest group, highlighted such restrictions as an impediment to future
industry growth.

And grassroots efforts against hydropower dams and lithium mining have
taken shape in the West.

BIDEN DECLARES NEW NATIONAL MONUMENT THAT WILL LIKELY BE FUNDED BY FOSSIL
FUEL REVENUES

"Hydropower is a green energy scam," Gary Wockner, the executive director
of Save the Colorado, told Fox News Digital. "It is one of the dirtiest
and environmentally-negative forms of energy that we can use to create
electricity."

Save the Colorado was formed in 2015 to advocate for the protection and
restoration of the Colorado River. As part of the group's work, it often
opposes hydropower dams, which it argues have negative impacts on
waterways, wildlife and have large carbon footprints.

In March, Save the Colorado organized a coalition of more than 130
environmental groups including Earthjustice, the Center for Biological
Diversity and the Sierra Club, to sign a legal petition urging the
Environmental Protection Agency to be more transparent about hydropower
projects' environmental and emissions profile.

"There's all sorts of negative impacts to rivers, to fish, to the habitat,
and to the forests along rivers," Wockner added. "The science about this
has become increasingly well known in the last 20 years, especially the
last 10 years, as reservoirs, and especially hydropower, can create
significant greenhouse gas emissions. They can be just as dirty in some
cases as a coal-fired power plant."

TOP INDUSTRY GROUP RAISES ALARM ON FUTURE OF GREEN ENERGY: 'HAS NOW BECOME
A CRISIS'

In addition, Nevada, Minnesota, Alaska and other mineral-rich states have
seen increasingly high-profile fights over critical mineral production.

Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel are vital for both
clean energy and defense technologies, but are largely mined and refined
abroad. Lithium mining in particular has received increased attention
recently due to its importance for electric vehicle battery production.

"The only thing green about this project is the money that the corporation
wants to make," said Max Wilbert, co-founder of Protect Thacker Pass, a
group opposing a massive proposed lithium mine in Nevada.

"Billions of dollars are at stake here in this one mine," he continued.
"And, more broadly, with the energy transition in general, we're talking
trillions of dollars. That is a very powerful force."

The firm Lithium Americas proposed to mine lithium at the site years ago,
but has yet to produce any due to pushback from environmentalists like
Wilbert and ongoing lawsuits challenging the federal government's approval
of permits.

Wilbert criticized the environmental movement for what he said is the
false promise that the U.S. can maintain its level of energy use with
carbon-free alternatives.

"If we want our children to have a future, we need to change course," he
told Fox News Digital. The Thacker Pass lithium mine represents this
bright green lie that we can have this high energy, highly-consumptive
society and have a sustainable world at the same time."

"That's just not true."

Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

Comments:

SunflowerPower272
13 October, 2022

We need "dispatchable generation" . That is power when we need it. So
called "green energy" does not give us the ability to bring power up when
needed. Only when the wind blows or the sun shines. Anyone that thinks we
can survive on "renewables" alone is irrational and disconnected from
reality. We need fossil fuels now, more than ever, and well into the
future until we can find another method to create energy when we need it.


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Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.