WindAction | The Forest And The Trees: Western Mass' solar siting problem

As Massachusetts tries to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 — necessitating seven to 10 times its current solar capacity — contentious cases like Shutesbury illuminate a complex interplay of federal and state policy, grid infrastructure, and economics. Such factors can lead to seemingly counterintuitive proposals that threaten to pit activist against activist, like cutting down forestland to reduce the state’s carbon emissions.

Related Keywords

Shutesbury ,Massachusetts ,United States ,Atkins Reservoir ,Harvard Forest ,Illinois ,Dover ,Arizona ,Springfield ,Williamsburg ,Australia ,Belchertown ,Michigan ,American ,America ,Greg Garrison ,Sharon Weizenbaum ,Patrick Donnelly ,Chris Kalinowski ,Nathan Letoile ,Rayo Bhumgara ,Dwayne Breger ,Ucinda Jones ,Claire Chang ,Maura Healey ,Kim Driscoll ,Natalie Blais ,Jacob Oliveira ,Stephen Long ,Valessa Souter Kline ,Caro Roszell ,Amy Stitely ,Lindsay Sabadosa ,Caitlin Peale Sloan ,Joe Czajkowski ,Saul Griffith ,Jo Comerford ,Ludlow Aaron Saunders ,Solar Energy Industries Association ,Community Planning For Solar Toolkit ,Massachusetts Clean Energy ,Palisade Infrastructure Group ,Office Of Housing ,Fiera Capital Corporation ,Clean Energy ,Conservation Law Foundation Sloan ,Synapse Energy Economics Inc ,Commission On Clean Energy Infrastructure ,Puresky Energy ,Optimist Playbook For Our Clean Energy ,Syncarpha Community Solar ,Massachusetts Audubon Society ,Hypersion Systems ,Department Of Energy Resources ,Dynamic Energy Solutions ,American Farmland ,National Grid Substation ,Us Energy Information Administration ,Environmental Affairs Undersecretary Katherine Antos ,National Grid ,Conservation Law Foundation ,Wd Cowls Land Company Inc ,Umass Clean Energy Extension ,Land Company ,Palisade Infrastructure ,Husky Energy ,Clean Energy Infrastructure Siting ,Smart Solar Shutesbury ,Dover Amendment ,Peale Sloan ,Growing Solar ,Protecting Nature ,Massachusetts Amherst ,Nature Conservancy ,New York Based Syncarpha Community Solar ,Technical Potential ,Synapse Energy Economics ,Energy Resources ,Score Habitat ,Critical Natural Landscape ,Northampton Democrat ,Greenfield Solar ,Aaron Saunders ,Hamden District ,Building Solar ,Planning Board ,American Farmland Trust ,Northeast Solar ,Grace Shiffrin ,Umass Amherst ,Community Planning ,Solar Toolkit ,Social Justice ,Executive Office ,Livable Communities ,Great Basin ,Biological Diversity ,Clean Energy Future ,New England ,Zoning Planning ,Photovoltaic Solar ,