American solar farms • Hacker News Board

Re: American solar farms

#51

Post by criley2 » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

UltraSane wrote: post #44

criley2 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more than just funding. There's a lot of regulatory hurdles and desire to use federal lands that will also be killed. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-offici... >The following month, the president said his administration would not approve solar or wind power projects. “We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” he posted on Truth Social. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!…

The federal government doesn't have to approve solar farms built on private land. Solar is far from dead in the US and there is tons of private land solar farms can and will be built on.

Most the best land for solar farms in the west half of the US is controlled by the federal government. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Ma...

For example, there basically will not be large scale solar in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, etc under this administration. You know, some of the highest value spots.

Re: American solar farms

#52

Post by LUmBULtERA » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

dzonga wrote: post #45

the sad thing about this data is how politicized clean energy has become. the blue states have a lot of energy solar - while the red ones are sparse. the red ones get a lot of sun while the blue ones don't.

I don't disagree about it being politicized, but if you look at the states with the highest amounts of renewable generation, your second sentence is not supported. There is a LOT of wind energy in Republican-led states in places where wind makes sense.

Re: American solar farms

#53

Post by LUmBULtERA » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

rapind wrote: post #46

dzonga wrote: post #45

the sad thing about this data is how politicized clean energy has become. the blue states have a lot of energy solar - while the red ones are sparse. the red ones get a lot of sun while the blue ones don't.

[flagged]

Tell that to South Dakota's wind farms?

Re: American solar farms

#54

Post by rapind » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #47

rapind wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What is the argument against it? I've never heard any logical reasons beyond hating the Left. It's like hating bikers, why? The same people that have pickup trucks and swerve to intimidate bikers, seem to hate solar energy. But why?

Rhetoric mostly I'd say. The idea being promoted is that clean energy subsidies hurt the honest Joe coal miner (details being very hand wavy). I'm not convinced it's really that well thought out though and might just be about owning the libs. Maybe there's a MAGA in here that can educate us.

Re: American solar farms

#55

Post by conception » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:10 PM UTC

rapind wrote: post #46

dzonga wrote: post #45

the sad thing about this data is how politicized clean energy has become. the blue states have a lot of energy solar - while the red ones are sparse. the red ones get a lot of sun while the blue ones don't.

[flagged]

[flagged]

Re: American solar farms

#56

Post by ctime » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:10 PM UTC

The arid and sunny west ware prime candidates for solar, yet the current administration is doing everything they can to further destroy any chance a future of being carbon neutral with cancellations of many projects.

TFG cancelled a fairly far along project to build 6gw of solar in the Nevada desert just a few days ago known as Esmeralda 7.

The ineptitude and grift of this administration will haunt this country for decades.

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/feds-appear-to-canc...

Re: American solar farms

#57

Post by rapind » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:11 PM UTC

conception wrote: post #55

rapind wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

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I thought my statement was ridiculous enough to forgo the "/s".

Re: American solar farms

#58

Post by chasd00 » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:13 PM UTC

trimethylpurine wrote: post #30

squigz wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My experience is that people whose homes have burned down are unhappy that their homes burned down. It is also my experience that this is a fringe opinion" Like what?

Seeing them feels dystopian. I actually don't think that opinion is so fringe. There were lots of environmental protesters when the solar farm near us went up. The valley was rich in low shrubs and wildlife, and even some forest was leveled. A multi billion dollar energy company destroyed it to pick up their share of the free government funding while powering less than 2% of homes. Sure, it's better than a gas refine…

Seeing a big solar farm out in the desert does feel cyverpunk’esque/dystopian in a way. I suppose it’s the juxtaposition of new technology with the harsh natural beauty of a desert.

Re: American solar farms

#59

Post by bluGill » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:15 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #47

rapind wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What is the argument against it? I've never heard any logical reasons beyond hating the Left. It's like hating bikers, why? The same people that have pickup trucks and swerve to intimidate bikers, seem to hate solar energy. But why?

Because anything one side says the other must automatically and reflexively oppose no matter what. The example here is Right hating on Left, but the Left as the same illogical hate against the right - though in different areas.

This has often been blamed on first past the post voting - if you want to win you have to team up which means your views on Abortion and Environment Policy have to align even though there is no reason to think the two should have anything to do with one another. Since there is no room for thinking each side is correct one one and wrong on the other you have to oppose anything the other does without wondering if maybe they are correct. Now remember that are thousands (millions?) of different issues, and many of them have a range of different answers, yet there can only be one unified position that you support...

I'm not convinced that the various alternatives are really better though. They all seem to have issues in the real world, and too often people will look at what they have an ignore the issues because they want to feel better.

Re: American solar farms

#60

Post by mantas » Mon, Oct 13, 2025, 1:15 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #47

rapind wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

What is the argument against it? I've never heard any logical reasons beyond hating the Left. It's like hating bikers, why? The same people that have pickup trucks and swerve to intimidate bikers, seem to hate solar energy. But why?

Technically I could see some reasons. Grids need serious upgrades to support personal solar properly. Which is €€€ and, if end-customers would have to foot the bill themselves, very few people would install solar at home. On top of that, at least in my whereabouts solar is receives a fuckton of subsidies. In the long run lower energy prices will pay back those subsidies for the society, but for now I could see why some people ain't happy to foot the bill. Especially when it's usually better-off people installing solar. While poor people end up partially footing the bool.

Last but not least, Chinese domination in modern solar equipment is mind-boggling. At least when I was installing solar, buying western-made would have been much more expensive, to the point that it wouldn't be worth to go through.

P.S. I got solar on the roof myself. „Free“ electricity is damn nice.