NJ PONDERS DUBBING WIND, SOLAR FARMS AGRICULTURAL

Lawmakers in New Jersey have come up with a novel idea to overcome SUPEROBSTACLES (see preceding post) there.

Jersey, the most densely populated of U.S. states, treasures its agricultural lands so greatly it has passed "preservation" laws to protect them. Some of the state’s legislators would like to legally categorize wind and solar “farms” as agricultural, allowing developers to bypass the familiar Not-In-My-BackYard (NIMBY) complaints and regulatory complications that prevent New Energy development.

It is a clever solution to NIMBY and regulatory complexities because wind and solar installations generally go so well with farming. New Jersey farmer Ronny Lee had 360 solar panels installed atop buildings at his Lee Turkey Farm near Princeton before his 6th-generation farm was “preserved” and the installation serves him extremely well. Lee: "It runs all the heat lamps in the buildings for the turkeys and things like that. It actually runs the houses, too. It runs everything…"

State Senator Raymond Lesniak, economic growth committee chairman, supports the measure because he thought wind turbines he saw scattered among France’s farm fields "majestic."

Preservationists fear such a law would open the door to exploitation of agricultural lands in less fitting ways. Proponents in the legislature of "agriculturalizing" wind and solar farms have a larger perspective. Senator Lesniak: "[With] four-dollars plus for a gallon of gasoline…[and] the economy in bad shape...old ways of thinking [about] things have to be looked at over and over again."

Canadian horses grazing undisturbed by a Stirling solar array. (click to enlarge)

NJ weighs bill encouraging alternative farm energy
Tom Hester Jr., June 16, 2008 (AP)

WHO
New Jersey legislators (State Senators Bob Smith and Raymond Lesniak); New Jersey preservationists (Susan Kraft, executive director, New Jersey Agriculture Committee; Alison Mitchell, policy director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation; Jaclyn Rhoads, director for conservation policy, Pinelands Preservation Alliance)

WHAT
Smith is sponsoring a bill to categorize solar and wind installations (“farms”) as agricultural, allowing protected rural lands set aside for agricultural purposes to be used as energy-generating sites.

These Texas cattle seem more distrubed by the camera than the wind turbines. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
The bill has been passed by the necessary State Senate committee. It now must be passed by the full State Senate and then clear the State Assembly.

WHERE
- New Jersey is the most densely populated of the U.S. states and that explains the importance of its law protecting farmlands. 18% of its land is preserved for agriculture.
- 360 solar panels were installed at Lee Turkey Farm near Princeton before the agricultural protections were instituted.

WHY
- Protecting the Garden State’s farmlands costs $686 million in state funds and $358 million in local government and charitable funds. This is the biggest farmland preservation expense of any U.S. state.
- Putting solar and wind installations in the same category of farms also protects them from many NIMBY objections, as farmers are protected from nuisance complaints about smells.
- The biggest objection to the idea is that it somewhat jeopardizes lands preserved for agriculture. On the other hand, solar and wind installations can co-exist with agricultural activity and even increase its profitability.
- Opponents of the measure fear the legislation opens the door for other kinds of development on preserved agricultural lands.

No law will get at this guy's solar power. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Senator Smith, bill sponsor: "It's very hard for people to get out of that traditional thinking that the only farming there is when you dig up dirt and plant seed…[This bill is] attempt to think outside the box when it comes to farming…The environmental goals of renewable energy and farmland preservation are not mutually exclusive…"
- Susan Kraft, executive director, New Jersey Agriculture Committee: "I think this crosses a line that the public did not intend…"