Drill up, baby, drill up! Can the organizations freaking out about potential oil and gas leasing (“Drill, baby, drill…” Nov. 25) actively support the best and cheapest sustainable alternatives to it? In addition to local and onsite solar, we need to build “industrial” wind farms and solar farms and energy storage sites and even a few lithium mines or wells. Many of these need to utilize public and agricultural lands and will affect wildlife and habitat. However, if support is not forthcoming for sustainable, renewable projects to replace them, then oil and gas wells proliferate across other habitat. Meanwhile, continued combustion of that oil and gas triple-glazes the atmospheric greenhouse, wreaking havoc on habitat and wildlife worldwide.
Energy can be produced forever on the land utilized by wind and solar, in contrast to oil and gas wells which get depleted, requiring another lease, then another, ad nauseum. First-generation wind turbines are being “repowered” with improved ones, including those at the Nebraska windfarm contracted for Aspen’s power. A portion of Colorado’s first solar farm, over in the San Luis Valley, used innovative concentrator photovoltaics. These proved troublesome, so that area is being repowered with systems which have proved reliable. The new panels will double the output, generate power for 30-40 years and the racks may last for 100. Many wild critters and agricultural practices are co-existing with “industrial” wind and solar. Onsite solar is not enough.
I don’t want to hear from any person or organization about stopping leasing or fracking unless they show up to support industrial solar and wind farms. (To their credit, Western Colorado Alliance supported the 400-acre solar farm east of Delta.) And maybe wait on restoring the bison for now. The need to replace fossil fuels is now.
Fred Porter
Carbondale
Heavier snow is expected to begin Monday night, with Ajax and Snowmass anticipating 1 to 2 feet by Thanksgiving, while Aspen proper could see 6 to 10 inches.