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A group of ranchers, farmers and environmentalists are fighting plans to build the largest solar power plant in San Francisco Bay.
According to Bloomberg, one of those opponents, Chris O’Brien, is in favor of green energy, and even uses solar panels on his own ranch. But when he learned of the plans for the Aramis renewable energy project, which would cover around 350 acres next to his property in Livermore, he decided to fight it. He didn’t want to see the rural landscape spoiled.
“We moved here 25 years ago, and one of the reasons we did is that the zoning only allows one house per 100 acres,” O’Brien told Bloomberg. “There is nothing in the zoning or the general plan that allows this type of use. “
Opponents of the project, which would generate enough carbon-free electricity to power 25,000 homes a year, recently sued Alameda County for giving the solar farm the green light, fearing the solar farm “would violate an approved measure. by voters designed to protect open spaces, agriculture and wildlife habitat.
For the Biden administration to meet its goal of halving carbon emissions in the United States by 2030, approval of projects like these is needed. Yet solar farms appear to be generating a pullback wherever they go – what would have been the largest solar farm in the United States was recently canceled because residents of nearby Nevada said it would be an eyesore.
Despite the lawsuit, the Intersect Power project is still expected to continue, with construction beginning in mid-2022. To alleviate concerns about wildlife habitat and open spaces, the company is avoiding building solar panels over endangered California red-legged frog habitat and hiding the site from the road with landscaping.
“There are a handful of neighbors and people who are primarily concerned, it seems, with preserving their view of the open space,” said Bart Broadman, who owns 110 acres of land slated for the solar farm and supports the project, to Bloomberg. “It seems a little selfish to me as you see California burning down and climate change causing drought. ”
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