Solar as it should be

In today's NYT, there is an article about rooftop solar development. It discusses how Germany and Spain encouraged rooftop renewable energy through "feed-in" programs that pay producers for their clean green.

Sigh. Just yesterday the NYT had a different article: "Obama Admin Faces Power Grid s. Public Lands Conundrum." Some of the new proposed renewable energy projects feature vast tracts of public lands- which doesn't sound very renewable to us.

Katie Fite, biodiversity director for the Western Watersheds Project in Boise, Idaho, said the overall issue has placed the environmental community in an awkward position. While she said the environmentalists support the development of renewable energy, the effort needs to be done in a way that does not create further environmental problems.

"I have no problem in speaking out against a wind project if it destroys beautiful wildlife areas when there are better alternatives," Fite said. "And it will mean the destruction of some beautiful natural areas in some very remote locations if these big power lines are built."

It will mean destruction of a huge number of natural areas and imperiled species habitats if you look at the numbers:

The region's two largest public land managers -- the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service -- are currently evaluating more than 400 applications for wind and solar projects on federal lands. If approved, those projects would cover 2.3 million acres in seven states and generate an estimated 70,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 50 million homes.

Wouldn't it make more sense to put those wind and solar power systems on people's rooftops instead?

Oh, right. There is no incentive to get people "off the grid." No one makes any money that way.