As a dedicated climate activist and a 32-year resident of Montgomery County, I am very, very sad to tell you that Montgomery County Council just voted to reject meaningful advances in solar power in our county. They recently voted on amendments to effectively prohibit farmers in our county from producing solar energy for low- and moderate-income families.
Please understand that the county’s two biggest environmental groups – Sierra Club and CCAN Action Fund – passionately asked the Council NOT to take this action. Here’s a Washington Post op-ed that expresses our view.
CCAN Action Fund wants to thank Councilmembers Hans Riemer (D-at large), Evan Glass (D-at large) and Tom Hucker (D-Silver Spring) for supporting a strong version of the solar ZTA 20-01 bill. We want to express our deepest disappointment in the Councilmembers who just voted against “farm solar” advances that would include environmental justice: Andrew Friedson, Gabe Albornoz, Craig Rice, Sydney Katz, and Nancy Navarro. Will Jawando voted right on one amendment and wrong on another.
The solar ZTA bill would have permitted a very limited amount of land in the County’s Ag Reserve to be used for solar production with significant limitations. The solar parcels had to be small – no more than two megawatts – and they had to have native grasses planted under and around the panels to build healthy soils. The solar power would then be sent mostly to low- and moderate-income families through a process called “Community Solar” power.
Ironically, it’s currently permissible to grow sod in the Ag Reserve for golf courses and suburban homes – but not to place solar panels in the same reserve. It’s okay that 70 percent of crops grown in the Reserve go to feed cows and pigs in the region’s unsustainable livestock industry that harms the Bay. But solar, according to the tragic majority vote of the Council, is effectively banned for the Reserve.
Please know that Sierra Club and CCAN Action Fund proposed reasonable compromises all along the way to accommodate opponents who said solar power could harm the rural character of the Reserve. Up until the final vote, Council champions Riemer, Glass, and Hucker worked with us to propose solar be phased into the Reserve with only 600 acres per three years and with strong environmental and agricultural impacts studies done along the way. If solar caused ANY measurable impacts on forests or land prices or food crop production, the process could be adjusted accordingly or ended after just three years. Again, there are no such limits or impact studies on sod farms or livestock crops. But this amendment did not get a vote.
We are in a full-blown climate emergency worldwide. Low-income communities and communities of color are being hurt hardest by bigger storms, sea level rise, fires and more. Meanwhile, the MoCo Council declared a “climate emergency” in 2017 but has passed no major legislation to reduce emissions since then.
To all in Montgomery County: Please write your councilmembers. CCAN Action Fund will continue to work with the Sierra Club and other stakeholders to advance ambitious and equitable climate policy in Montgomery County. Unfortunately, this vote was a setback – but with your help we will fight on.
Sincerely,
Mike Tidwell
Director
CCAN Action Fund and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network
