Opinion: The Temporary Moratorium For Large Scale Solar Failed, But We’re Counting It As A Win.
A solar farm under construction in the UK. Photo: Geograph (CC BY_SA 2.0)
By Pat De Angelis, Ana Devlin Gauthier, and Lynn Griesemer
On Monday, February 28th, the Amherst Town Council voted not to pass a temporary moratorium on the permitting of large-scale ground mounted solar (LGMS) arrays in Amherst. As this debate moved through development, review, recommendations, and votes we heard from many residents both for and against the proposed temporary moratorium. As the sponsors of the bylaw, we want to thank our community for their engagement, and explain why we remain optimistic about the direction of LGMS in Amherst.
The biggest reason the three of us believed a temporary moratorium was needed was to provide time to craft a bylaw specific to the siting and permitting of LGMS, something Amherst does not currently have, and to conduct a siting study to determine the best siting options and our usage needs. At the beginning of this process, there was not a consensus amongst the relevant boards and committees that Amherst needed a specific bylaw relating to the permitting of large-scale solar arrays, despite it being a recommendation from our own Energy and Climate Action Committee (ECAC). As the moratorium discussion continued, that opinion shifted and discussion turned to the need for a bylaw, but there was not a consensus on who should be drafting it, or just how much solar we needed as a town. Again, upon the recommendation of ECAC, we have asked the Town Manager to conduct a siting study and convene a working group to create this bylaw. This is being done as we write and we would like to thank the town staff, Planning Board, and the Energy and Climate Action Committee for their continued work towards meeting our climate action goals in this way.
So, while the vote failed, we consider this to be a win. We will have a solar bylaw, and it will be informed by a siting study. Amherst will lead by responsibly siting large-scale solar installations and aggressively meeting our climate goals, with the policy to guide it.
Pat DeAngilis is an Amherst Town Councilor Representing District 2
Ana Devlin Gauthier is an Amherst Town Council Representing District 5
Lynn Griesemer is President of the Amherst Town Council and represents District 2
Deforestation for solar is a truly bad idea. Forests capture CO2 and other emissions and store the carbon in the trees and soil. They do that for free 7/24/365 at the same time they provide habitat and water filtration, among other things. Clearcutting such forests for industrial solar arrays that should be installed in already developed areas is a climate crime. Here’s an interesting locally produced video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9Owjwsh6M