Prohibits incentives for the siting or operation of commercial renewable energy systems in sensitive environmental areas

• Democratic10
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Michelle Hinchey says this is needed

New York is losing farmland at an alarming rate. Between 2012 and 2022, approximately 9% of our total farmland (roughly 365,000 acres) was lost to commercial and residential development and to solar farms. Some esti- mates suggest New York could lose over 450,000 acres of farmland by 2040 unless we adopt increased protections. Solar leases are lucrative, creating tension between renewable energy goals and food production. Land that leaves agricultural production to become solar farms suffers irreversible environmental damage from heavy grading that undermines soil structure, soil compaction from construction equipment, and chemical leaching from damaged panels, as well as habitat disruption and fragmentation by creating fenced solar deserts where hedgerows, woodlots and grasslands formerly supported wildlife. Additionally, young farmers who wish to find land to buy or lease must compete with large, global energy corporations snapping up amble land at high prices. Prime farmland should be preserved for food production rather than ener- gy generation; food should not be traded for energy. There are more appropriate places to site solar arrays near population centers: park- ing lots, rooftops, brownfields, capped landfills and other property that is already disrupted with little prospect of returning to a more natural state. We are also losing grasslands and other ecologically important habitats to renewable energy projects. A 567-acre solar project is currently proposed in the middle of a grassland bird conservation center in Wash- ington county. The grassland is the overwintering and breeding habitat of a number of threatened and endangered bird species - once it is developed, they face extinction or extirpation. As the state has met its solar energy goals, it should not be in the business of incentivizing the loss of farmland and precious natural ecosystems because of our climate goals. Solar farms do not need to be sited on productive, sensitive habitat. The state should not reward energy companies for destroying our agricultural and natural resources. This bill would prohibit the state from providing incentives, like zero emission credits, to commercial solar farms sited on farmland or in environmentally sensitive or important habitat.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.