Tate Watkins writes in Reason about the conflict between onerous regulations and clean energy.
- The development of a 12-megawatt geothermal power plant in Nevada, which would provide reliable, carbon-free power to the grid, has been halted due to new protections for toads.
- The plant’s developers spent 15 years navigating the environmental review process only to have its construction halted (even though the plant wouldn’t have impacted the nearby toad population), effectively preventing 12,000 Southern California homes from being powered cleanly.
- Accomplishing key energy and environmental objectives will require conducting trade offs and modernizing regulations to make it easier for the private sector to scale and develop solutions.
“One project being stymied by environmental and tribal objections in what is reportedly one of the loneliest places in America should raise questions about where future energy projects might actually be allowed. At the very least, it does not bode well for visions of a carbon-free future any time soon. Environmentalists may trumpet the need for clean energy, but too many of them don’t want it here, and they definitely don’t want it there—and probably not there either, just to be safe.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
