Roth, S. (2023, January 17). Want to solve climate change? This California farm kingdom holds a key. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-01-17/want-to-solve-climate-change-this-california-farm-kingdom-holds-the-key 

As global warming continues to drive temperatures up, many agricultural counties in California are running out of water, at the same time solar companies have started to buy farm land to develop large solar farms. In Imperial County, residents and farmers are divided by the option to sell land to these companies. While some are eager to bring new jobs into the county, sell off some less useful land, and help the environment, others are hesitant to give up their land, which has been passed down for generations. Some say it’s because their land is worth more than clean energy.

 

This article displays a great example of one of the many challenges that developing clean energy has. Every source of energy has a downside, and for solar, it is a necessity for land. But this land can’t come from anywhere, many activists oppose developing new areas for solar farming because it would destroy natural habitats which is why many solar companies are buying land off agricultural areas, however, many of these farmers are reluctant to give up their farms for a plethora of reasons. Despite the farms causing immense environmental damage, nearly draining the section of the Colorado River that reaches the bottom of California, as well as creating a huge sea of contaminated water due to runoff from all of these farms, many farmers continue to oppose helping the environment because they see their neighbors doing the same thing. This article shines a light on a prime example of a “tragedy of the commons” in terms of agriculture. In my opinion, the farmers should be selling some of their land to help solar development. Not only would it help the local economy, it would also bring us a lot closer to reaching our climate goal. I think this would be one of the best ways California could start becoming carbon neutral. However, at the end of the article, it mentioned that a company nearby was drilling into the ground to find steam pockets underground that are large enough to turn turbines. I wonder how much impact these companies will have on our environment and energy production.