Texas Solar Farm Accused of Polluting Environment | Spectrum News
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- In North Texas, a solar energy company is clearing acres of land to build a solar farm, but families who own the adjacent properties contend that doing so is destroying the natural environment.
Spectrum News' Brett Shipp investigates plans for the future, while hearing the land owners' pleas for help.
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Hey there, thanks for all the thoughtful discussion in the comments here. If you have a question for Brett Shipp or our Texas newsrooms about this or other topics, you can reach out using this link: specne.ws/KeEw1x
The problem is not with the company or the landowners. The problem is with the State and the weak and intentionally ineffective TCEQ. These sorts of projects can be built with sensitivity to the land and local ecosystems - with proper oversight. These sorts of projects can also be NOT approved by State regulators when they would have too much negative impact. That almost never happens because the TCEQ and all other Texas "environmental" agencies reliably cowtow to business and politcal buddies over actually protecting anything.
i kinda agree... it seems that the company would've wanted to tile the land prior to putting in the solar panels... i mean, the company is probably going to have constant and re-occurring erosion and flooding issues because of the poor land management plan they've implemented and that going to increase their insurance and maintenance costs... i guess they'll "just pass the costs onto the consumer"
1st, if you think that's bad you should take a look at what the 35,000 acre Colony Ridge "colonia" in Liberty County TX has done to the environment (and how toothless and inept TCEQ has been out here!). 35,000 acres of dense woodlands and wetlands, all cut-n-filled and turned into little 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots by the tens of thousands now, and the sewage and sediments in the storm-water run-off are simply epic! 2nd, as pertains to this story I notice that cow rancher has cleared pastures.... did he ever stop to think about the dense forests that used to cover HIS now cleared cattle pastures? I doubt it somehow (do as I say not as I have done mentality). 3rd, why can't we simply all have on-site power generation for our homes with solar panels on our roofs and individual mid-sized wind generators... use the spaces we already have absorbing sunlight to make power for our homes instead? Why do we need HUGE solar farms when we all have roof's over our heads just absorbing sunlight all year long... it makes no sense whatsoever! Finally, aren't there enough desert lands in America where no trees grow where these huge solar farms could be located instead of in areas of beautiful dense forests and wetlands that the other creatures on this planet depend on?
Individual residential solar units would, of course, be preferable, but large corporations want to centralize power production. Big installations, big control over your power supply, big profits.
The deserts have eco-systems that benefit the whole earth also.
Cool! Destroy the planet to save the planet. What could possibly go wrong?
Muddy runoff is 'destroying the planet'? Interesting perspective.
Clean!? Sustainable!? Are you joking
So the devestation is that the bulldozers made their water dirty. That will happen from any type of development. Once the native grasses take hold, it should all get back to normal.
Focus on abandoned fraking wells
And how is this suppose to be eco-friendly? And was an environmental study performed?
Where is the devastation, I was looking for some oil spill.
Just another American thinking he actually owns his land.
You can bet, big oil or big coal was behind that. They hate competition.
Lol big oil owns renewables too Same coin - different sides and they both have nefarious business practices . I have yet to see one responsible renewables developer, there in lies the problem for the communities that are forced to live with this industrial mess
Once the panels are installed they will create more run off because they will block rain from the ground. This will further reduce groundwater levels and increase flooding downstream.
I have looked at sat maps of the area and a lot of the land is farmland. Yes there are areas with trees. It you look at some of the land right next to the solar farm in the video it is farmland. Also after a solar farm was built near me about a year later the plants were higher than the solar panels and thick between the rows of solar panel. Every construction site has mud after the rain. but once finished and the plant grow back, and the mud run off not any worse than your average farm. I don't blame them for not want the structure next to them, they should be mad at the landowners sold the land to the solar company. Once the plants grow back it won't look so barren. I thought the story was going to be about some leaking chemical contaminating their property.
Piles of trees, it's just Cow pasture nothing to see here folks keep it moving
What happens when a Texas hail storm destroys it? Will it then be abandoned and left for local municipalities pay for the removal of all the toxic chemicals?
This happened already about a month ago all panels shattered….media silent not one word about the contamination.
Bingo!
Yes, it will. That's already happened elsewhere.
This what literally happens every time a new subdivision goes up or Industrial complex.
Ever lived within 5 miles of a feed lot? It's a incredible amount of manure, are they going to stop producing cattle or pigs or chickens?
Your insurance rates will go up to cover it
NO FARMS NO FOOD !!!
Farmers feed the world noob
@@chrisreuter4249 and solar farms are the least of our worries
Nimrod
The state that produces the most gas products and pollutants from those gas products complains about solar power, some irony. This is what happens with population growth and thousands of single family homes that require lots of energy.
Conventional energy plant construction could easily result in the same poor run off situation when there are heavy rains during construction. Solar shouldnt pollute nearly as much as oil/gas/coal.
are the electrons leaking into the creeks?
😂 these people really don’t know what a electron is
Use your eyes instead of your ears. Don't let these liars speak, just look at their destruction, it's undeniable.
Oh yeah because oil and gas when it spills is so environmentally friendly! LOL. Mining and burning coal has been so great as well. Amazing how clean it is. And then there's fracking. Cool thing about a solar panel. Is they last 20 years or longer without needing to be replaced and the energy they get is from the Sun, Sun. Last time I checked I don't think you have to pay for that. So the energy is Free.
this may be just a stupid question but why cant we put these life saving "lies" in a place that could be none damaging. Suggest a desert where its sunny all time.
Sorry. Short term thinking. We HAVE TO PRODUCE power other than with fossil fuels. I’m not the brightest bulb on the string but as soon as the panels are installed grass should be planted. And that falls on the panel company.
Complete shade as from a solar panel kill vegetative life! Dah! Why not just import oil from Saudi or iran? Not much different from importing non-recyclable solar panels from China.
Who is the good keeper of the environment? Not the Solar panel company or the governmental officials granting the permit. Where was the follow-up on code compliance? Certainly no anticipate on what could go wrong.
But...clean energy doesnt polute
Muddy runoff is certainly equivalent to tons of carbon monoxide. It's called False Equivalency. Check it out, it's fun.
Be it solar, wind farms, oil wells, developers and pig farms, they have to be good neighbors or they wont last. TECU has no teeth, it a worthless agency now it has been dismantled. Buldosing what is left of forests is awful. Considering land owners preserved those forests for years.
😂😂😂 these people are ridiculous! Dirt is pollution now? Let them complete construction and the problem will take care of itself…..
Unfortunately this is what "clean" energy looks like. Those pushing for large solar and wind turbine farms never have to see them or live with their significant impacts on the community.
That impact is no different and any other construction site. Yes, they should do a better job of mitigating the run off. That will change when the job is finished and the plants grow back. I watched a solar farm constructed near me and the plants will grow between the row of panels very well. In fact it would be great for a goat farm with plenty to eat. remember this is a TV NEWS video and they are always overly dramatic with every issue. The solar company should migrate the mud run off better than they have.
This happens in Russia all the time the business oligarchs are given special treatment and it happens in the USA. Why because of money donated to politicians re-election campaigns and their desire to remain in office until they die. One of the things the US Constitution did not do and that is to protect the citizens against greed. There must be politicians of integrity and honesty otherwise the constitution is not worth the paper upon it is written.
Ben Franklin addressed this issue on June 2nd 1782 during what is now known as the Constitutional Convention. It used to be considered one the greatest addresses in American history but now it's hard to find on the internet that Al Gore invented.
I wonder how the rancher and the end got all those nice beautiful pastures for his cattle in a swamp land forrest area??? Hmmmmm! Lol
Having said that, it’s a crying shame that that beautiful area was cleared for such a sham as solar power. There’s millions of useless west Tx desert acres that can easily sustain massive solar farms…..why go destroy oxygen producing trees/forrests/water holding swamplands??
All those Chinese solor panels making energy until a serous storm wreaks it
What is the life of solar panels? 30 years?
Make china great again
Solor is awful . It is a national boondoggle
You need to educate yourself before commenting
Not to mention the insects and birds that will die from the intense head the panels put off during most of the year
😂
But removing wild life and trees helps make us greener . Said no intelligent person ever
We buy this land from land owners. We relocate any endangered animals we come across.
1800 acre solar farm??? That’s insane
Average size right now , and they are building much larger . My twp is fighting 1700 acres industrial solar that will be placed 1/4 mile from Lake Michigan dunes
Greed.
Always fun during the construction of anything with sediment and erosion control plans, be it a super Walmart, industrial park, standalone shipping hub, new roads, oil and gas sites, centralized animal feed operations or that area above and Austin that was fields and pastures back in the mid 1990's that is all city now for miles and miles or a large logging operation. They all produce more run off than the original forest or plains and increase total suspended solids, Total nitrogen and Total Phosphorus. You should see what has to happen with sites like this in the Cheaspeake Bay Area from the Chesapeake Bay Plan.
All the liberals should have to go see this so they can protest the distruction.
Be sure to have the liberals bring Governor Newsom of California to see this mess. After all, he probably will be the next (or even the emergency 2024) candidate for President. He has almost totally wrecked California. He feels he needs a bigger play ground for his "environmental" policies.
China loves it
So very true that we should t be destroying wetlands for solar farms. Let's also make sure that large corps don't build factories or warehouses in those as well.
It wasn’t your land to worry about what the landowner did with it. What people fail to understand is the land doesn’t belong to the state or the government we buy it from landowners. How can you tell them what to do with their land.
Gee, wonder who's actually in charge of regulating these folks ?
No one , big energy has few regulations and no vetting process . Developers generally have free rein, $ talks .
Imagine that!👌
Solar photovoltaic energy without storage typically has its erratic dips in power made up by natural gas or coal fired power plants running at high availability. Running at high availability is like running a five speed car on the interstate in third gear with high fuel use, wear and tear. One cloud passing over a large solar farm will dramatically cut its power output requiring instant makeup by other source of electric power. Most likely the public power grid is forced to buy this solar farm's electric power regardless of quality of output at far higher prices than its worth making electric power more expensive.
Douglas what are you talking about??? We store energy with every farm that gets built, the sun puts out more energy on cloudy days than it does on a day where it’s 110 outside.
my elect bill is to high, gasoline is to high, the president is to High !
For everyone who thinks solar is the answer - THIS is your REALITY CHECK!
Wildlives matter !! Not here....
Clean energy is a damned lie.