Aiming for Protective Conditions""if a developer proposes "green" facilities near you

A field of destroyed solar panels after a storm in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, 2017. Photo by Jocelyn Augustino, FEMA

If a developer wants to install a utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) facility and/or battery energy storage (BESS) near you, consider yourself blessed. You get to shake up your assumptions about "green," "clean" and "renewable" energy. You get to practice humility while explaining technologies' not-so-sunny sides so that neighbors and legislators who believe that "renewables" cannot possibly have problems"actually hear you. You get to learn a new chant: "Show me the professional engineer's report certifying that this project's hazards are mitigated-- "when, honestly, you'd much rather clean a closet.

For starters, admit that in your zeal to prioritize health and safety, you've made mistakes. Recognize that we are all powerless over "green" industries, and that our lives have become unmanageable. Salute yourself for exploring your part in society's predicament.

Step 2: Learn how electricity keeps reliable and affordable. Get to know your county's land use codes. Research solar PVs' and BESS's shadow sides"from their cradles-to-graves.

Step 3: Remember your goal: your county permits the facility only if protective health and safety conditions are met.

MANUFACTURING

The vast majority of energy is consumed, toxins are emitted and human rights are violated while manufacturing a product.

China uses Uyghur forced labor to make solar panels. Get informed from several sources.

Read why we burn coal and trees to make solar panels.

See the big picture: We are not equipping the energy transition; we are cannibalizing it to militarize our future. Our global scramble for minerals wages war on people and planet.

Would your county require the developer to prove that its raw materials were sourced only from companies that can verify worker and environmental protections?

INSTALLATION

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