“The American public could embrace this latest evolution of our shared domain. Or 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 — while requiring renewable energy companies to find other places to build. So which should we choose: clean energy or conservation? Right now, President Biden is trying to thread the needle. The Biden administration released its long-awaited Western Solar Plan last month, laying out a vision for where sprawling solar farms should be allowed — and where they should be blocked — across 11 Western states, including California. The plan covers 162 million acres overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and tentatively concludes that companies should be able to propose solar projects across 22 million acres — an area roughly the size of Maine… ” — L.A. Times climate correspondent Sammy Roth
In Episode 414 of District of Conservation, Gabriella discusses the updated DOI/BLM Western Solar Plan and its six proposals – including one to raze down 22 million public land acres across 11 states – to catalyze utility-scale solar projects. The affected states would be: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Tune in to learn about this problematic plan.
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SHOW NOTES
2024 Draft Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development PEIS/RMPA
Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development
The Dark Side of Solar Power
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Energy
Utility-Scale Solar vs. Distributed Solar: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 2) BHA OPPOSES SOLAR DEVELOPMENT IN PRIORITY HABITAT, MIGRATION CORRIDORS, AND POPULAR PUBLIC LAND HUNTING GROUNDS
BLM PLANS SOLAR PROJECTS ON WESTERN PUBLIC LANDS
Solar Energy Development Environmental Considerations
Photo Credit: Gabriella Hoffman / Idaho – August 2022