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Rural solar projects in the U.S. are increasingly facing opposition, and there is something going on that goes beyond the human desire to resist change in your neighborhood. Reporters have noted that misinformation about solar projects is being spread and amplified online, aided by organizations and individuals with ties to the fossil fuel industry. With that in mind, this might be a good time to look at some of the changes that fossil fuel extraction has wrought in rural communities.
Who loves solar energy in the countryside?
While habitat protection is a concern for rural solar development, it is hardly relevant when the solar project is on agricultural land. Rural solar developers like to plant solar panels on agricultural land because it is fairly flat and generally has good road access. The land has already been deforested and re-organized into a commercial operation that maximizes sunlight, and bears little to no resemblance to its former, natural state.
Farmers also like the income from leasing their land to solar projects, regardless of party politics. I recently had a conversation about rural solar development with an executive from the company Engie, who pointed out that their solar contracts tend to involve smaller, independent farmers who want a reliable source of income.
In an op-ed earlier this year, Iowa Conservative Energy Forum Chairman Ray Gaesser also vigorously defended solar energy on farmland. a drought-resistant energy crop which provides farmers with a good income.
When you put it this way, a solar array offers a number of sustainability advantages over nutrient- and water-requiring energy crops. Solar panels don't require fertilizers or irrigation, except perhaps the occasional wash. Shading from the panels also helps retain moisture in the soil, and the location can also serve as a restoration field for native grasses and plants that are good for pollinators.
Critics of rural solar: follow the money
So much for the proponents. There are also many opponents. In addition to the energy crops grown on nearby farms, many rural residents live in communities that have never had an energy industry of any significant size, so a large solar project represents a significant change.
“Despite all the talk about saving the family farm, independent farmers trying to save themselves with solar energy, it's not always welcome news for the neighbors,' I pointed out CleanTechnica all the way back in 2018, regarding opposition to a proposed solar array on farmland in Washington state.
Evidence soon emerged that organizations with ties to fossil fuel industries were also lending a helping hand. In 2019 E&E News reporter Kelsey Brugger inventoried the interaction between for this anti-solar groups made up of local opponents and permanent organizations that drive the climate denial industry.
“Many in the anti-solar crowd… are seeking input from well-known man-made climate change deniers and anti-renewable activists,” Brugger noted. Brugger cites the example of longtime Republican influencer Susan Ralston, who successfully countered rural solar projects near her Virginia farm after seeking advice from John Droz, a anti-wind activist known for his opposition against climate science and his organizational skills.
Ralston then founded the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible Solar. In February 2023 National Public Radio drew national attention to the group, describing it as “part of a growing backlash against renewable energy in rural communities in the United States. Last year, Citizens for Responsible Solar was credited with helping local groups organize against solar projects in 10 states.
“Citizens for Responsible Solar was founded in a suburb of Washington, D.C., by a longtime political activist named Susan Ralston, who served in the White House under President George W. Bush and continues to have close ties to influential players in conservative politics,” NPR added.
Ralston's profile on Citizens for Responsible Solar further explains that as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy to Senior White House Advisor Karl Rove.
Where rural solar projects go, Heartland is sure to follow
In a similar vein, last December Energy News NetworkI also described how local residents with ties to the natural gas industry organized other residents against a solar project in Ohio. The well-funded endeavor included a 500-person event with a speaker lineup that included Steve Goreham, whom ENN describes as “a featured policy expert on the Heartland Institute website.”
Heartland first emerged as a frontline fighter against tobacco regulation in the 1980s and later embraced a similar policy of denial and deception to thwart the energy transition.
“Heartland is known for its attacks on mainstream climate science, and Goreham has often argued against the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is real and caused primarily by emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels,” ENN noted (see more Background information from Heartland Institute here).
Who can forget exploding houses and eternal fires?
The denial and deception manual is heavily used at Citizens for Responsible Solar, which informs visitors to its website that “solar power plants in rural areas have a negative impact on our ecosystem and contribute to climate change.”
Be that as it may, the need to find another way to satisfy the country's energy hunger became clearly visible last spring, when methane gas linked to subsidence problems at the Oak Grove coal mine in Jefferson County, Alabama, reportedly entered a home and exploded. The home was leveled. Two people were home at the time. Both suffered severe burns and one person died.
This was not a one-time event. Nearby homeowners have expressed concern that they are also at risk, as the Oak Grove mine has been linked to area-wide subsidence that could allow methane to travel upward. “Damage from subsidence is evident in the community with homes crumbling and held up by jacks, others abandoned,” locals reported ABC news affiliate 33/40 in may.
Another example is the rural town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, where 1,000 residents were forced to relocate after subsidence due to a mine fire which erupted beneath their homes in 1962. Sixty years later the mine is still burningafter it survived initial attempts to extinguish it.
In a recent update, the NBC branch WGAL noted that experts expect burn for another 500 years before the fire goes out. They also noted warning signs posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection intended to discourage casual visitors to the site:
“The area surrounded by the Centralia Mine Fire is extremely dangerous. Walking and/or driving in the immediate area could result in serious injury or death. There are hazardous gases present and the ground is susceptible to sudden and unexpected collapse. DEP strongly discourages anyone from visiting the immediate area.”
Really. Just last month subsidence in a coal mine suddenly created a 30-foot deep and 100-foot wide sinkhole in a public park in Alton, Illinois. In addition to destroying a football field, the sinkhole swallowed several bleachers. Fortunately, no one was there at the time.
More solar for more communities
That's just a few tidbits about the coal industry. Leave a message in the comments thread if you've experienced similar issues related to the extraction, transportation, or use of coal, oil, or natural gas in your community.
Meanwhile, solar developers are beginning to learn some lessons about the need to anticipate anti-solar misinformation and ensure meaningful community involvement from the start. A similar movement is underway among government agencies that support solar local organizations to stimulate the development of solar energy in disadvantaged areas.
The community solar energy And agrovoltaic Trends are also driving local support for local solar projects, so keep an eye on this as well.
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Photo: Rural solar projects can coexist with agricultural activities (courtesy of National Laboratory for Renewable Energy).
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