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‘Not in my backyard’ approach hypocritical

When those opposed to a project take a “not in my backyard” approach, many believe they are doing so for the greater good, too. Too few stop to wonder whether they are actually doing harm. One recent example comes from Williamsport, Ohio, where at the end of last year activists managed to kill the planned 400-megawatt Chipmunk Solar project by EDF Renewables.

Local residents and elected officials had put up signs that said “No industrial solar plants on farmland,” because they believed a solar array would “ruin the region’s agricultural character and tank property values,” according to one ABC News affiliate.

Farmers Doug Steck and Mark Schein, both of whom own farmland on which part of the solar array was planned to be built, disagreed.

When EDF Renewables called Schein to tell him the company was withdrawing its proposal, Chipmunk Solar was only the second recent solar array in the country to have submitted for regulatory approval, but then withdrawn due to local opposition, according to ABC News.

“I’m disappointed, and there are a couple people here in the community I don’t think I’ll speak to for the rest of my life,” Schein said.

Those who were worried about preserving “agricultural character,” were less worried about the actual farmers. One report estimated cancellation of the project would also mean a loss to local government of approximately $100 million over 30 years.

And, as Steck pointed out, there was more than a little hypocrisy in their objections, as some opponents of the projects had claimed there would be environmental damage as a result of the solar array.

During one meeting, Steck talked to those folks about the tonnage of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides his family would need to put on his 285 acres, if it was to remain a farm. “That’s all poison,” he said.

But having allowed politicians and special interests to convince them they were doing the right thing, the opponents fought on, and won.

One wonders whether any of those folks has ever seen a strip mine, or the damage done to property under which a coal mine has been tunnelled.

Of course those things, also, are not in their back yards.

It doesn’t matter now. They’ve won. Steck is right to be angry; as are those in surrounding communities where developers may be less likely to approach landowners to make a deal. And the business of expanding and diversifying our state’s energy portfolio? That will continue. Somewhere else.

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