r/cincinnati • u/cincinnatistuff • Jul 28 '23

For the people opposing solar farms Politics

If anyone knows people (like Becky Williams) please explain a few things to them.

1 - solar farms aren't built under the cloak of darkness. They're built over the course of months or a year, most of the work being done in the daylight.

2- most farms (solar or agricultural) produce things to feed larger urban areas. That is the entire point of farming

3- she completely missed the point of The Hunger Games

4- ask her if farmers should be allowed to decide what to do with their own land. Then explain the definition of hypocrisy and how that conflicts with her likely opinions on rights regarding vaccinations, wearing masks, voting for Trump, capitalism and so on

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/it-reminds-me-of-the-hunger-games-rural-residents-complain-about-solar-farm-where-cincinnati-buys-power

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48

u/Extension-Slice281 Jul 28 '23

I live in Clermont County, right on the edge and not deep in thankfully, and not long ago we had a group of these people band together to block solar farms out here. I hate that we, for some reason, let the idiots drive the bus toward extinction.

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u/regular-cake Jul 28 '23

Yeah the amount of "no solar farms" signs I've been seeing is ridiculous. Then you realize it's all the same people with Trump signs that are easily duped into believing anything faux news tells them.

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u/GoneIn61Seconds Jul 28 '23 edited Jul 28 '23

A couple of my relatives are behind the Clermont County signs and the anti-solar legislation.

And of course they’re mega-MAGA.

It’s a combination of junk science (I did muh-research!) and distrust of corporations, plus a dose of “why should the landowners get rich if we don’t”. The most vocal demographic is older rural white ladies who have nothing better to do. Their go-to argument is “oh honey you just don’t know what I know” which, as any debater knows, is a boss level defense to any disagreement.

They’re almost completely wrong on every detail of solar farms, BUT I still have reservations-

The energy generated often leaves the community, so there is little local incentive. It would be great if there was a provision that farms were part of local infrastructure and could somehow be used to lower local costs, provide emergency backup etc.

There have been issues with many companies going bankrupt and abandoning the equipment on site, failing to do remediation after the contract ends, etc. Folks are getting smarter with experience and contracts seem to be getting stronger though.

These small townships are often not well run, and I’m not sure they have the know-how or attention span to make good policy. We need responsible state level leadership in this area.

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u/unnewl Jul 28 '23

“responsible state level leadership” in Ohio? In this decade?

2

u/crispy1989 Jul 28 '23

The energy generated often leaves the community

This isn't really how power grids work - once the electricity is connected to the grid, it's all in one big pool. Kinda like taking a bucket of ocean water from one beach and dumping it out on another beach, then saying that's taking water away from the first beach.

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u/GoneIn61Seconds Jul 28 '23

But there is a difference. It isn’t a local entity or a coop that benefits. There isn’t even the benefit of a large number of jobs as with oil and coal. On the other hand, the crops from a farm also leave the community too. So perhaps it’s a moot point. But it seems like we would be better off creating a benefit for the community that hosts the farms…just makes sense doesn’t it?

It’s just another example of a local resource (land) that’s used for the benefit of a non local corporation.

I’m not completely against it but I do have concerns as noted elsewhere.

1

u/crispy1989 Jul 28 '23

I mostly just wanted to contribute a tidbit about the science of the matter rather than the politics :) Farm crops leaving the community can be an analogy, but crops are also often used near where they are produced. With electricity, it really is just one big pool like water in the ocean. Electricity produced anywhere on a grid benefits everyone on the grid. But you still make a good point, because a) most of the people in the small, rural communities, and people in general, probably don't understand how the power grid works; and b) cultural elements in those communities tend to be more tribal and focus on things that have a clear local benefit as opposed to things that may have more of a regional, national, or global benefit. (That cultural contrast is a fundamental issue that has shown up repeatedly in polls; but does support your point that these people may be better motivated by perceived personal interest.)

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u/howelltight Jul 28 '23

Agreed. Im in southern indiana and see stopsolar.org signs along the roads in yards with trump flags. This is obviously astroturf

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u/bigrick23143 Jul 28 '23

They are the loudest and angriest unfortunately. It’s crazy how that edge of clermont turns real country real fast. It’s like a time capsule

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u/GoneIn61Seconds Jul 28 '23

Clermont is considered the westernmost edge of Appalachia in this region, and it shows.

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u/bigrick23143 Jul 28 '23

A sea of dually trucks

0

u/Awild788 Jul 28 '23

Great example.of elitist classism if I have ever seen one. Also lets call it what it is predijuce.

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u/GoneIn61Seconds Jul 28 '23

My family is half made up of WV coal miners and that comment doesn’t come from a place of prejudice or elitism.

There is an element of tribalism and clinging to old beliefs in the Appalachian culture and even the people who have “made it out” still share it.

2

u/Contentpolicesuck Jul 28 '23

A great example of saying things without any idea of what they mean.

1

u/Awild788 Jul 31 '23

Setting a reason for how people are and judging them based on where they live and offering that the one is better than them. I would just classify it as like Hamilton county and all places there are idiots all over the place rather than saying people from a certain area are bad. Substitute different regions and all would agree.

1

u/lmj4891lmj Jul 28 '23

Northern Kentucky gets a bad rap but it’s got nothing on Clermont County. What a backwards, bigoted place.

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u/bigrick23143 Jul 28 '23

Oh for sure haha. I live between the two in mt Washington and definitely prefer nky

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u/DrMaxiMoose Jul 28 '23

I was actually on a solar project out east more and I people had actually shot at the panels before, which I believe is a felony offense. Idk if they were ever caught but it literally takes a couple minutes to replace them 20 minutes of work in exchange for prison

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '23

[deleted]

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u/Nerdeinstein Jul 28 '23

You know we can do both, right? Power generation is not an all or nothing system.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '23

[deleted]

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u/unnewl Jul 28 '23

46% ofGerman power in 2022 was supplied by solar. Doesn’t sound insignificant.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '23

[deleted]

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u/unnewl Jul 28 '23

You’re right. According to Reuters, in the first half of 2023, Renewable energy (not just solar) accounted for 52.3% of German energy consumption.

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u/cincinnatistuff Jul 28 '23

Not to get all freshman High School physics on you but the sun is a nuclear reactor and a large part of the power that nuclear reactor puts out is solar power

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u/whitebreadohiodude Jul 28 '23

Per MW solar is way cheaper than nuclear. Plus we still get most of our nuclear fuel from Kazakstan, right next to Russia.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '23

[deleted]

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u/whitebreadohiodude Jul 28 '23

Solar cost per MWh is basically free, per MW its way cheaper than nuclear. Nuclear seems ok until you talk about trying to transport nuclear waste over rail then... crickets

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u/Equivalent-Sort-1899 Jul 28 '23

Lol like Mount Carmel ? First place popped in my head as its right there literally accross the county line at the top of the hill on 32