Editorial: A solar tug-of-war

 This editorial board continues to support New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the ambitious law aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. We also support the ability of local communities to shape their destinies, particularly when attempting to protect open space and farmland.

 

Those stances make it difficult to take a side in the ongoing fight between the Greene County town of Athens and Freepoint Solar LLC, which hopes to place 43 acres of solar panels along rural Potic Mountain Road but has been stymied by a zoning law limiting such projects to industrial and commercial areas.

 

Freeport Solar argues that its plan, though relatively small, comports with the state's desire to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and it says the town's refusal to grant a zoning variance is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the greater goal of confronting climate change. 

 

Neighbors and other opponents of the installation contend it would be unsightly and, as it requires the clearing of 34 acres of forest, environmentally destructive. Their concerns are echoed by rural residents across New York justifiably concerned about the ongoing industrialization of the countryside in the name of power production; many towns have responded by instituting solar-farm moratoriums.

 

A state Supreme Court justice sided with Athens, noting that courts typically bow to the discretion of communities and their zoning boards when determining if proposed developments justify variances.

 

But as the Times Union's Olivia Holloway reported, an appellate court in Albany has reversed that decision, finding the town's zoning board had erred when it stated there was no "public necessity" for the Athens project, which is too small to fall under the jurisdiction of the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission. 

 

"Certainly one cannot quarrel with the premise that New York state’s goal of transitioning to renewable energy is designed to benefit the public at large, and this project is in line with that goal," the panel of appellate judges ruled in a decision, which Athens officials plan to appeal.

 

The ruling is noteworthy in its citing of the state's climate legislation, and it portends a major victory for the solar industry if it sets an enduring precedent applied statewide.

 

Yet it could be a threat to rural New York communities seeking to protect farmland or rural vistas that, in some cases, are key to tourism, local economies and the overall quality of life. Will residents lose all ability to shape the look and feel of the towns and landscapes they love?

 

If so, the consequences for rural New York could be significant. 

 

A better approach would balance the needs and wants of communities with the demands of the state's emissions targets. Doing so may make it more difficult to achieve those goals in the short term, but disregarding community sentiment could be the larger threat because it threatens, over time, to erode public and political support for the landmark Climate Act. Local opinion still matters, in other words, and it must be heard.

 

Editorials are the institutional view of the Times Union. They represent the consensus of the editorial board, whose members are George Hearst, publisher; Casey Seiler, editor; Akum Norder, senior editor for opinion; Jay Jochnowitz, editor at large; Tena Tyler, senior editor for engagement; and Chris Churchill, columnist and editorial writer. While the Times Union’s news coverage frequently informs our editorials, the board’s opinions have no bearing on that coverage.

 

Forcing solar farms on upstate towns is not the right approach