How the solar battle tore apart a New York community – Mother Jones

Solar farm in Harmoney, FloridaPaul Hennessy/Sipa/AP

“There are many people who say, ‘Nimby, nimby, nimby,’ and people who say, ‘Nimby, nimby, nimby,’ don’t live right next door.”

This is what one of the retirees said Reveal Jonathan Jones travels to upstate New York to find out why so many residents of the rural town of Copake are fighting to stop the construction of a massive solar energy project.

Jonathan’s story, a version of which first aired in January, sheds light on one of the key reasons why it is so difficult to build the green energy infrastructure we need to transition away from fossil fuels – even in a deep blue state. “We are not climate deniers or NIMBYs,” another resident told Jonathan. “We believe in the need for renewable energy and we just want to have a say in how it’s done so that it’s reasonable and consistent with the type of community we have and what we want.”

The result: a solar project intended to provide enough renewable energy for 15,000 households has been stalled for years.

The situation in Copake is not isolated. Once you’ve listened Disclose podcast, I also recommend reading the latest version by Henry Carnell Mother Jones the story of a decade-long legal quagmire that delayed the completion of a transmission line intended to deliver power from 161 wind and solar projects in the Midwest.