skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Florida picks up the pieces after Hurricane Milton; Georgia elected officials say Hurricane Helene was a climate change wake-up call; Hosiers are getting better civic education; the Senate could flip to the GOP in November; New Mexico postal vans go electric; and Nebraska voters debate school vouchers.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Civil rights groups push for a voter registration deadline extension in Georgia, federal workers helping in hurricane recovery face misinformation and threats of violence, and Brown University rejects student divestment demands.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Hurricane Helene has some rural North Carolina towns worried larger communities might get more attention, mixed feelings about ranked choice voting on the Oregon ballot next month, and New York farmers earn money feeding school kids.

KY communities consider solar zoning ordinances

play audio
Play

Monday, September 9, 2024   

As Fayette County considers approving industrial-scale solar operations on farmland, more communities in the Commonwealth are considering special zoning ordinances for solar field sites aiming to protect landowners, while supporting the shift to renewable energy.

Ashley Wilmes, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council, said her organization has developed a model planning and zoning ordinance local officials can use as a resource.

"Our model ordinance offers a menu of options in certain areas," Wilmes explained. "To allow local officials, hopefully with the input from county residents, to select the options that best meet the needs and future land use plans of those communities."

Solar projects in the state are increasing. In Eastern Kentucky, there are plans to turn 7,000 acres of former surface-mine land into a large-scale solar operation crossing several counties. Critics of industrial-scale solar operations on agricultural land said they disrupt local wildlife habitat, contribute to soil erosion and topsoil loss, and could pose a risk to future food production.

Wilmes pointed out land sold for subdivisions or commercial development is permanently lost, while solar energy systems may be a good interim use of land, which can be restored at the end of the solar farm's life, typically about 25 years, and provide alternative sources of income to farmers. She added large-scale solar farms are not the only path forward.

"We need solar energy systems of all sizes and types, from roof-mounted to integrated to ground-mounted systems," Wilmes urged. "To make this shift to clean, reliable and renewable energy."

Daniel Bell, a sheep farmer in Garrard County, said a partnership with the Nashville-based solar developer Silicon Ranch has allowed him to graze his flock of around 300 sheep on the company's solar fields and boost income by growing his herd. He explained sheep are natural grass cutters and help protect solar arrays from debris and damage from mowing.

"We provide them the benefits they need and we benefit as well," Bell noted. "It's just a really great mutual situation, but also a fantastic opportunity for farmers."

Kentucky ranks 45th nationwide for total installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Disclosure: The Kentucky Solar Energy Society and the Kentucky Resources Council contribute to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy, Environment, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
In Florida, the deadline to register to vote was Monday, and a Florida driver's license or Department of Motor Vehicles ID card was necessary to complete the registration. (Vilkasss/Pixabay)

Social Issues

play sound

As Hurricane Milton makes landfall and Florida recovers from Hurricane Helene's devastation, voting rights groups have filed a legal challenge to …


Social Issues

play sound

A Detroit educator recently told a congressional committee he is "terrified" at what a second Trump term as president could bring for America's public…

Social Issues

play sound

Ho-Chunk Farms' annual Indian Corn Harvest is reviving and preserving this tradition for the northeast Nebraska tribe. Corn from a Winnebago family's …


There is no safe level of lead in a person's blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Scientists note even low lead levels have been shown to affect IQ, the ability to pay attention and academic achievement. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Clean water advocates in Maine are applauding the Environmental Protection Agency's new rule on lead pipe removals but warned drinking water in school…

Health and Wellness

play sound

When it comes to stroke care, experts say, "time is brain." Now, a program launching in South Dakota will coordinate and strengthen stroke care …

Emergency management officials in North Dakota say dry air with less than 20% relative humidity and dried vegetation are providing plenty of fuel for wildfires this season. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

From power outages to burnt farmland, North Dakota is coming to grips with the impact of several large wildfires that are linked to at least two …

Environment

play sound

By Bennet Goldstein for Wisconsin Watch.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for Wisconsin Watch-Public News Service…

Social Issues

play sound

The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today. In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021