Something’s wrong with this picture. While solar energy generally is backed by groups that want to cut greenhouse gases, a proposed solar project at a defunct Long Island, New York, nuclear power plant has stirred tensions because it requires clear-cutting 350 acres of woods. “Choosing solar over forests anywhere in the world is just plain stupid,” Dick Amper, of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, told The Associated Press. “Solar is very important to fight global warming and beyond, but I’m afraid we’re making false choices when you destroy portions of nature and the environment to accomplish that end.” Similar differences are happening elsewhere. A court fight is brewing over a plan by New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park to cut down nearly 15,000 trees to make way for a solar farm.
In Connecticut, state officials recently approved a plan to chop 134 acres of trees in the town of Sprague for a solar energy project.