Sustainable renewable energy is without doubt an enormously important part of stemming climate change. However, it takes planning to transition from reliance on fossil fuels to a well-considered mixture of viable renewables in our landscape without plunging into the same kind of industrial land-grab that coal and oil have practiced with their ensuing impacts on the environmental, historical, and cultural fabric of a place. Kent County and others have done and continue to do that planning while continually taking into account new information and research.
There is no silver bullet. Simply replacing one kind of industrially-designed energy source with another and in the process gobbling up prime farmland (a USDA designation for soils perfect for food production) for its footprint is not only counterproductive it’s destructive – unnecessarily so. Corporate expediency usually ignores the long-term effects of its practices on a place and the lives of the people in it. It is the people who must determine – and sometimes fight for – the long-term sustainability of an environment, a heritage, a culture, and a way of life. It can be done.
Links to informative materials to further understand our past, present and future.
“The future of sustainable farming and forestry in Maryland will be significantly influenced by the confluence of relevant public policies and private sector investment in the industries. Relevant policies include those concerned with land use and preservation; support for resource-based businesses, including value added agriculture and direct marketing enterprises; and environmental regulation.”
A report commissioned by the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc.
The residents of Maryland deserve a cohesive well thought out plan to move forward with renewable energy. All stakeholders including county government, farming interest, and ratepayers need to be included in this planning. Comments to the Maryland Power Plant Resarch Program by the KCPA. >> Read More