In a current problem of the Occasions Union, an article by Gwendolyn Craig requested the question: “Ought to the Adirondack Park be used For huge photo voltaic tasks?” Of All of the views launched Inside the article, former Gov. George Pataki’s was In all probability the Most annoying.
Pataki was quoted as saying, “It is utterly inappropriate Inside the Adirondack Park.” I hope he reconsiders. Clear, renewable power belongs anywright here power is consumed.
That doesn’t imply renewable power tasks Ought to be recklessly websited, They typically definitely don’t belong And might’t be websited Inside the Forest Protect. However 56 % of the Adirondack Park, or 3.6 million acres, is privately owned, and enchancment on most of that land is topic to consider by the Adirondack Park Agency. The holy grail On this grand experiment referred to as the Adirondack Park is sustainability. Producing clean power That Does not pollute the air and genperiodte local climate-warming greenhouse gases, reduces power funds, and retains our power dollars from going to completely different nations and states Want to be An factor of The picture.
Let me Supply you A pair of current circumstances of photo voltaic tasks that assist make The objective.
Wright hereas not An monumental-scale enterprise, The two-megawatt Saranac Group Solar array was accomplished earlier this yr on the outskirts of Saranac Lake. The enterprise occupies about 10 acres, consists of 5,424 photo voltaic panels, And can genperiodte enough Electricity for about 200 homes and companies, with 40 % of the period Devoted to Adirondack Well being, the community’s hugest employer. The enterprise will displace almost 1,700 tons of CO2, decrease subscribers’ power funds, and appeal to pollinators (bees and hummingbirds) to the wildfdecreases planted beneath the panels.
And right here’s the kicker: The state of affairs was focused by Walmart for a superstore. I’ve nothing in the direction of Walmart (properly, truly, I do, but that’s ancompletely different matter), but what would you pretty see (barely) outdoors of the village of Saranac Lake: a community photo voltaic array or An monumental Walmart?
The subsequent event is An monumental-scale photo voltaic enterprise Inside the metropolis of Ticonderoga, simply accredited by the APA at its October meeting. The 20-megawatt enterprise will embrace 46,000 floor-mounted photo voltaic panels Which will pivot To hint the photo voltaic To reinforce their effectivity. The photo voltaic array has been sensitively websited advertjacent to Route 9N: The state of affairs is flat and Little or no tree slicing Shall be involved; it hugely maintain away froms wetlands; It is going to be screened by native vegetation; It is going to permit wildlife to move beneath the fencing; electrical cabling Shall be buried; …….
