SAVING THE TREES, LOSING THE FOREST

Environmental Groups Burning Green Energy's Chances of Survival
Ken Silverstein, March 29, 2012 (Forbes)

"…Besides surviving the permitting process, renewable energy interests must also find the space on transmission lines, if they can get them built…Like any utility-type project, wind and solar plants must go through the regulatory maze. It’s always an arduous process that most often results in compromises…

"…[Now green groups are adding to the difficulty. Some wanted a solar farm relocated] away from Mojave Desert’s Pisgah Valley to an agricultural region that has fewer environmental implications…Conservation groups have told California authorities that a proposed wind project there would kill off rare birds. Green groups are opposing a 100-turbine wind farm in Kern County that is to be developed by NextEra Energy. Opponents want the project relocated…A move is now afoot to locate some renewable projects to brownfields…[but] it may cost more to prime the property for development than the actual projects are worth…"

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"…California encapsulates the issue. It has a renewable energy standard to require utilities there to generate a third of their power from green fuels by 2020. Right now, the state generates about 20 percent of its energy from sustainable sources that is principally made up of hydropower. The rest is in the pipeline…But the California Public Utility Commission says that a lack of sufficient of transmission as well as the array of environmental permits that are required…[for projects and new wires] could hamper development…

"Green groups have long battled fossil fuel interests but they are now taking on those who would build wind and solar farms…Staking the higher ground may prove counterproductive. It will, invariably, prevent anyone from reaching the middle ground."