Nature Conservancy and the Western Solar Project

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

The majority of the podcast was about offshore wind, feel like they barely skimmed the surface of the BLM solar topic. Robby went more in depth on the solar stuff with the TRCP guys on the Rokcast.

Mule Deer Migration Routes with TRCP

Robby hosts the Theodore Conservation Partnership to discuss the BLM's 22 million acre solar project, blocking some critical Mule Deer Migration Routes

www.rokslide.com

 

[TVW]

No im
Not saying that. Nor am I going to break it down for. Do your own research.

Gotcha, so you make a super confusing statement and won't back it up in the least bit, very helpful.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

A link with a means to comment on the BLM solar proposal would be useful here.

Safeguard Big Game Habitat in BLM Solar Plan | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

www.trcp.org

More detail

BLM analysis aims to optimize solar energy development throughout the West | Bureau of Land Management

www.blm.gov

Solar Energy Permitting Resources

This website provides up-to-date information on the BLM's Solar Energy Permitting Resources.

blmsolar.anl.gov

 

[HighUintas]

How many acres of land does the NC hold? How many of that are wide open for public use? They don’t give a flying (expletive) about sportsmen! The clown would not answer a single question. When asked what HIS thoughts on issues were, he deflected. It was clear to me the ME crew weren’t on board with his thoughts on destroying habitat for climate change. It’s all about pimping money.


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They hold a couple million acres and have conservation easements on a few million more than that, and they've transferred 15 mil acres from private to public.

 

[doc holiday13]

Not sure why these solar panels aren't being installed in parking lots and in highway medians where they are close to infrastructure.....

 

[CoffeeGoat]

Not sure why these solar panels aren't being installed in parking lots and in highway medians where they are close to infrastructure.....

Cost mostly. Solar energy cost is highly dependent on system size and installation costs. It's easy easier to grade a big area flat, hit it with round up and other herbicides to keep it clear, and then do a 250 MW install. It's the same reason we centralize other firms of electricity generation.

What makes me curious about this is that solar energy cost is up substantially recently. I wonder if it's even economic these days...

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Doesn't seem to matter to the renewable crowd/corporations if its economically feasible or not, just as long as it fits the ideology and optics of "progress". If I sound like a right wing climate change denier, I am not. Its all too complicated and we still need oil for decades to come. Nuclear over solar and wind everyday of the week for me because I selfishly want more wildlife on the landscapes and can't stand driving by these large "farms" that make me feel like I am in a blade runner movie.

 

[doc holiday13]

Cost mostly. Solar energy cost is highly dependent on system size and installation costs. It's easy easier to grade a big area flat, hit it with round up and other herbicides to keep it clear, and then do a 250 MW install. It's the same reason we centralize other firms of electricity generation.

What makes me curious about this is that solar energy cost is up substantially recently. I wonder if it's even economic these days...

While centralized is easy enough, access to the grid and positioning the panels would not be a huge issue, Plus most medians would be big enough to house the equivalent amount of panels, especially if you have the left middle and right medians . You'd save A LOT on transport cost, little to no losses due to long relay of power since you're already at point of use. I would disagree that its too cumbersome to use roadway medians

 

[Dos Perros]

Cost mostly.

Cost, in this case, measured in dollars. Not in habitat destroyed. Capitalism LOVES to externalize these costs.

 

[Gearqueer]

Half-jokingly, I feel that Hunter Biden will be in charge of auctioning off BLM sites for development.

I wonder if the fat cats in Washington have invested in any of these solar development groups.

There is no comparison to North American carbon emissions to Asian air pollution. Just go to Asia and take a look. Don't believe any of their figures and reporting because they lie constantly. I'm looking at YOU India and China.

The guest just seemed like more of a salesman. He knew a lot about how the multi-billion dollar contracts with investment groups ("win-win") will work, but skirted questions about why the solar part must be on BLM lands.

He also avoided specifics about which public lands would be on the table (what is "developed land?", etc.). That's a pretty big deal, and convenient that he didn't know the details. He avoided the discussion about steering this program to private lands. I have some ideas why, and they have nothing to do with the environment.

I also got the feeling like they want to force these corporate development contracts to be signed before someone else can become POTUS and reverse it. He avoided Rinella's question about that. I suspect that once contracts are signed with developers that a new administration will have their hands tied in reversing it.

I laughed when he said that citizens can log on to have their voices heard. He even said it smugly.

 

[CoffeeGoat]

While centralized is easy enough, access to the grid and positioning the panels would not be a huge issue, Plus most medians would be big enough to house the equivalent amount of panels, especially if you have the left middle and right medians . You'd save A LOT on transport cost, little to no losses due to long relay of power since you're already at point of use. I would disagree that its too cumbersome to use roadway medians

You're not wrong, but think about construction sites in terms of boundaries. A big square is easier to manage than a long skinny rectangle. That increases cost because you have to recieve materials along the entire length, you have to access control the entire fence, you have more copper to run and potentially more interconnections. If it was integrated with road construction it might make sense, but retrofitting would be expensive. Then your maintenance is also spread over miles of road with poor access control to keep the meth users from stealing the copper.

 

[Idaho_Potato]

What makes me curious about this is that solar energy cost is up substantially recently. I wonder if it's even economic these days...

I’m going tinfoil hat with a chin strap on this one. Somebody somewhere is buying a private yacht with a heli-pad and pallet of blow from the cash they are raking in on this scam.

See my earlier post - there’s more than one suspect on the Nature Conservancy board with ties to investment outfits running solar projects in the holy name of climate change.

 

[sneaky]

@Idaho_Potato I’d prefer “clown” over “ environmentalist stooge”, to directly answer your question. I’d prefer “guy I disagree with” over either. I listened to the podcast and thought he brought up good points, but didn’t leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling about the project.

To respond to your statement, I think lot of organizations have found public lands energy production to be a necessary evil for a long time. I’d ask if you are against energy development in general, or only renewable energy development?

I’m concerned by this project but I don’t think it’s some sort of conspiracy, I’m as skeptical of this development as I’d be of fossil fuel developments on the same land, and I also recognize that it will have upsides in terms of energy independence and extending the lifetime of our domestic fossil fuel supply.

Can we blanket your state with solar panels instead, then? An oil rig doesn't have near the same effect on the landscape as miles upon miles of inefficient solar panels. Longer they're out, the more inefficient they get. TNC can float them things in the ocean if they're that concerned about saving the environment.

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[sneaky]

just south of Ketchum there is a well-known place that elk migrate through. I’ve seen 100 at a time. It’s amazing. They come out of the woods and into a field, hang out, then continue across the road to another large field and mill around.

That second large field will become a housing development for the Uber-wealthy. And yet these are the knuckleheads who own ranches against national forest or vast tracks of potentially huntable land and the answer is always “no hunting”.

Right by the white fence? Lol

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[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Link to direct comment portal and descriptions of the Alternative options. As I understand it, there's also a "No Action" alternative that's not described.

EplanningUi

eplanning.blm.gov

5 alternatives show BLM lands set aside for solar projects in Nevada, western US

Five alternatives shown during a public meeting on Tuesday showed choices for protecting more — or less — land from solar energy development in Nevada and surrounding states.

www.8newsnow.com

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Gotcha, so you make a super confusing statement and won't back it up in the least bit, very helpful.

I was not attempting to be non helpful. How about considering that the direct correlation of political agenda meeting a politically motivated special interests group, is undeniable.

You owe it to yourself to do your own research.

 

[ODB]

Right by the white fence? Lol

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Ha! That be the place!!

 

[Idaho Brad]

They hold a couple million acres and have conservation easements on a few million more than that, and they've transferred 15 mil acres from private to public.

15 million acres that is wide open for hunting access?


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[Michael Rankin]

If this is the same nature conservancy, this Oregon one is definitely not open to hunting.

They also closed it to all public access for a couple years for “Covid” !

Explore Cascade Head Preserve

The Nature Conservancy protects 270 acres of coastal headland at Cascade Head Preserve near Lincoln City, Oregon, home to rare grassland communities, wildlife and the silverspot butterfly.

www.nature.org

 

[Andrew12gauge]

I listened to the whole thing, the nature conservancy guy continued to dodge the questions over and over, when he said that solar projects would only be placed on previously disturbed lands and Steve asked him “what counts as disturbed lands, would cattle grazing be disturbed” and the guy says yes. I’ve hunted antelope on BLM land where they have developed for oil and gas, there is maybe 1 well every 500 acres, that is “disturbed” in their opinion, there was wildlife on the other 499 acres around that gas well, do you think there will be wildlife there when all 500 acres are covered in solar panels? Hell no there won’t.


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