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Meredith Trimble's avatar

I wonder if this affects ranchers with gazing rights through BLM? I forgot: eliminate grazing rights and you eliminate beef to save the climate! Better to send money to China for solar panels.

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Sarah Montalbano's avatar

Haha! It will. Also looking forward to seeing how this interacts with the BLM's new conservation and mitigation leases, which conflicts with their "multiple-use and sustained yield" mission and has elevated a non-use over other purposes. Mitigation leases in particular may be used by solar and wind developers to "mitigate" their harms by renting lands to "set aside" elsewhere.

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Danimal28's avatar

Great post, Sarah. I am a mechanical engineer who designs products to work with solar panels charging batteries. This is all these toxic panels are good for: charging toxic batteries. For only about six hours per day. They are a complete toxic waste with a cost/benefit = infinity.

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Sarah Montalbano's avatar

Absolutely, thank you for your expertise!

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Kilovar 1959's avatar

The title image of this article just makes you want to run out and buy a few https://highprops.medium.com/chinas-solar-panel-farm-on-top-of-mount-taihang-cefe48c64442

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Sarah Montalbano's avatar

Doesn't it? Personally, I would *love* if the American West was covered with them just like that. (Not!).

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