New York is moving forward with industrial-scale solar power plants in rural communities despite strong local opposition. In Schuylerville, a farmer who bought acreage in 2023 described state action to clear 1,800 acres of protected grassland for a 100-megawatt solar complex near Fort Edward. The Fort Edward site is a wildlife preserve and bird habitat, including an endangered short-eared owl and a threatened norther harrier. Residents reported feeling helpless after town meeting concerns about chemical runoff and contamination were raised to developers and state authorities. The state’s renewable energy mandate under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires major increases in renewable electricity, greenhouse gas reductions, and energy storage by 2030.
"New York is strong-arming 18 industrial-scale solar power plants into rural communities across the state despite strong opposition from locals. Schuylerville farmer Alexandra Fasulo had just settled into the idyllic acreage she purchased in 2023 when Gov. Kathy Hochul's bulldozers came roaring in, poised to thrash 1,800 acres of protected grassland to build a 100-megawatt-capacity solar energy complex in nearby Fort Edward, NY."
"Worried that chemical runoff and contamination may affect her farm, Fasulo attended a town meeting last fall to voice concerns to developers and state authorities. We were like serfs coming before a king. It was so much worse than I ever imagined, Fasulo, 33, told The Post. Local feel helpless and infuriated as the state squashes any dissent on the massive, wildlife-killing green energy plant."
"The Fort Edward site (above) is a wildlife preserve and bird habitat home to the endangered short-eared owl and the threatened norther harrier. There was nearly unanimous opposition to this project. So, I thought it wouldn't go through. That's how representative democracy works, right? Wrong. New York's green energy mandate went into effect with 2019's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)..."
"New York's green energy mandate went into effect with 2019's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which requires 70 percent of statewide electricity to come from renewable sources; a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels; and at least 3,000 megawatts of energy storage capacity. All this is supposed to happen by the year 2030 but the deadline keeps getting pushed ba"
#solar-energy #land-use-and-rural-communities #wildlife-conservation #environmental-contamination-concerns #new-york-climate-policy
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