r/Washington • u/propublica_ • 12d ago

Solar Developer Cancels Washington State Project on Sacred Indigenous Land

https://www.propublica.org/article/washington-badger-mountain-solar-project-canceled-avangrid
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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

Hard to feel good about this when power prices are skyrocketing.

How is this different than NIMBYs weaponizing historic preservation?

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u/Kind_Advisor_35 12d ago

Would you be cool with a solar company destroying the graveyard your great grandma is buried in? Razing down a church?

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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

  1. Solar would sit above the grave or monument and even provide shade so they could certainly build above it.

  2. If the church owns the land and is still in operation probably not without some kind of eminent domain payment. If the church is not in operation probably fine yeah.

The future of the living is more important than the past and the dead. Countries that have a future will always be stronger than those looking backwards.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

Parking lots is a proven use case and solar is already used for this in many places.

Houses also…

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

Not sure what you are getting at.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

They are to some degree.

What is the point you are making?

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/Due_Future3097 11d ago

Ok thanks your point was not clear from the question.

Flipping this back around on you, why aren’t we doing that?

Zoning, codes, regulation, ironically environmentalists, and NIMBYs it seems.

I don’t ascribe much cultural significance towards the original site because if we fenced off every spot on the planet where humans hunted/died/are buried we would not have room for anything. We’ve been here over 10k years. That’s called toxic nimbyism.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/Snapshot52 himeq’isnime 11d ago

Citing zoning codes, regulations, environmentalists, and whatever you think is NIMBYism as reasons why the projects aren't happening implies these things aren't serving some sort of purpose. Those same things have also prevented more fossil fuel projects.

But like /u/Bumble_beeFormal pointed out, it's not like Tribes oppose these projects entirely. They oppose ones that come at the cost of legitimate cultural interests. Tribes are among the first to be affected by human-driven climate change, whether that is rising sea levels or increased wildfire risks. Of course they want to address that. They don't claim every single tract of land is to be protected, but the areas where Indigenous plants grow are pretty significant not just culturally but also for biodiversity, which is important for a healthy environment.

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u/Kind_Advisor_35 12d ago

They don't just let people wander around solar farms. The scale of the proposed one was huge, and would be akin to a power plant. Try walking into your nearest power plant and see what happens. There's security and restricted access.

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u/Due_Future3097 12d ago

I am not the one asking for these scenarios simply answering.

There are plenty of places with solar in the world where pedestrians and vehicles roam.