I saw a huge solar farm being built near my town and it got me thinking

I drove past the old Johnson field outside Springfield last week and they're putting up a solar farm that will cover over 200 acres. On one hand, it's great to see clean energy being built so close to home, and the company says it will power about 8,000 houses. But on the other hand, that field was a big open space with a lot of wildlife, and now it's just rows of panels. It feels like we have to choose between saving land and saving the planet. Do you think the trade-off for big renewable projects like this is worth it, or should we focus more on putting solar on rooftops in towns first?

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.nancy7d ago

I read that some new solar farms are trying to plant native grasses under the panels to help local bugs and birds.

gavincampbell7d ago

That idea about planting native grasses under solar panels is a good one, @perry.nancy. It feels like we're finally getting past just making things less bad and trying to actually make them good. You see it with new buildings putting in real bat houses instead of just pest control, or companies fixing a creek on their property for fish, not just to meet a rule. It's a small shift, but it matters.