{"id":19620,"date":"2023-05-31T01:54:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T01:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19620"},"modified":"2023-05-30T20:04:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:04:36","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-lava-ridge-wind-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/31\/pros-and-cons-of-lava-ridge-wind-project\/","title":{"rendered":"PROS AND CONS OF LAVA RIDGE WIND PROJECT"},"content":{"rendered":"

BLM outlines five alternatives <\/i><\/span>to wind project layout, impacts<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

BY Tristan Head<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Idaho\u2019s Bureau of Land Management recently concluded a commentary period resulting in 11,000 comments regarding a proposal of up to 400 wind turbines spanning nearly 75,000 acres by Magic Valley Energy near Minidoka, potentially powering 350,000 homes in Idaho from the 1,000-megawatt infrastructure, depending on which state purchases the power.<\/p>\n

The BLM developed a nearly 600-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) outlining five alternatives to not only the layout, but the impact resulting in as many as 486, or as little as 270, miles of newly developed roads on BLM land impacting flora, fauna, and humans alike (DEIS, 58). While citizens of the United States agree sustainable energy is a necessity to curb climate change, it forces individuals to contemplate: How can we evaluate sacrifices required to achieve this objective by 2030?<\/p>\n

Idaho Attorney General Ra\u00fal Labrador and Representative Dorothy Moon have both emphasized the \u201charm to people\u201d of Idaho due to the influx of labor from the Lava Ridge Wind Project, resulting in labor and housing shortages. Rep. Moon emphasized, \u201c\u2026the Magic Valley housing market will see a sudden influx of out-of-state laborers, many of them without lawful status to work in the U.S.\u201d The Magic Valley experienced a growth of 16.1% between the 2010 and 2020 Census, conveying the inevitable growth of southern Idaho, but the DEIS contrasts these statements by showing \u201c\u2026there is adequate housing for short-term residents across the Magic Valley to support non-local workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lava Ridge project will prioritize hiring local contractors and individuals for the construction phase. Certain groups of qualified workers are likely to come from outside the immediate area.\u201dsaid Amy Schutte, press spokesperson for Magic Valley Energy.\u00a0 <\/span>With the growth of College of Southern Idaho\u2019s Renewable Energy Systems Technology Program, local students will benefit, since \u201cMagic Valley Energy plans to support local workforce development and educational programs, particularly those that offer pathways to a career in the rapidly expanding energy industry.\u201d With an additional \u201ceconomic impact report done on the project, more than $80 million will be realized in tax revenue for the State of Idaho, while the region will benefit from more than $500 million in economic output.\u201d<\/p>\n

Idaho Senator Ron Taylor (D-Dist. 26) emphasizes another concern to humans: \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever fished at Silver Creek, by Picabo, and looked out across the fields and said, \u2018Wow, this is absolutely phenomenal\u2019 \u2014 that will go away,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cYou will be able to see some of these wind turbines while you\u2019re fly fishing.\u201d Yet, Amy Schutte, press spokesperson for Magic Valley Energy, explained a vital point found within the DEIS, \u201cThe agency\u2019s visual analysis shows the project will have no visual impact to Silver Creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another vocal opponent of the visibility and proximity of the project is the Friends of Minidoka, whose official statement included, \u201c\u2026 Lava Ridge wind project will forever alter Minidoka\u2019s somber landscape and fails to honor the significance of the events that occurred at Minidoka as a place of reflection, healing, and education for the survivors, descendants, and public. The proposed project places 340 towers in the Minidoka NHS viewshed with 12 of those towers on the historic Minidoka footprint…\u201d<\/p>\n

While nearly impossible to measure the impact the project could have on survivors and descendants of Minidoka National Historic Site, in addition to Indigenous tribes whose roots stretch back thousands of years, the BLM did \u201cput forth two preferred alternatives for the Lava Ridge Wind Project that scaled the original project proposal back to align with cultural, community, and wildlife needs, including thoughtful setbacks from the Minidoka National Historic Site to site turbines five to 10 miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southern Idaho has been \u201closing 1.3 million acres of sagebrush habitat per year to conifer expansion, invasive annual grass invasion, and land-use conversion.\u201d This in turn mirrors A.G. Ra\u00fal Labrador\u2019s comment that the wind farm will \u201cremove or alter wetlands, change their function, change the rate and quantity of runoff, compact soils, and alter flow patterns,\u201d while Schutte emphasized \u201cThe project will have no impact on the aquifer or Idaho\u2019s groundwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labrador also references estimates of 10,000 bats and birds being \u201cpulverized\u201d per year, yet the BLM\u2019s DEIS study found that \u201cwind energy\u2019s avian fatality estimate is roughly half that of nuclear energy and almost 20 times smaller than traditional fossil fuels,\u201d equaling less than one bird per gigawatt hour compared to traditional fossil fuels, which is five birds per gigawatt hour. Certain scaffolding techniques applied to the windmill layout should mitigate the impact on raptors, but local farmer Dean Dimond\u2019s fear should be noted, \u201cabout every third or fourth year we get hit with a vole infestation that the birds of prey help alleviate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Biden Administration invested an astounding $370 billion into renewable energy, striving for electricity to be 100% carbon-free by 2035 (White House). This inevitably will require sacrifice not just from citizens of the United States in general, but specifically Idaho. While Idaho representatives actively speak up for their voters and the flora and fauna falling within their districts, these comments must consider all aspects and not just sustainable energy resulting in a net positive for the environment determined by stakeholders, the Idaho citizen. Part of the role of a democratic society is being an informed voter, so voters are encouraged to stay up-to-date as the BLM strives to make a choice by the end of the 2023. The preferred alternatives demonstrate how public engagement has refined and created a compromise by all sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BLM outlines five alternatives to wind project layout, impacts BY Tristan Head Idaho\u2019s Bureau of Land Management recently concluded a commentary period resulting in 11,000 comments regarding a proposal of up to 400 wind turbines spanning nearly 75,000 acres by Magic Valley Energy near Minidoka, potentially powering 350,000 homes in Idaho from the 1,000-megawatt infrastructure, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,72,83,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blaine-county","8":"category-community","9":"category-idaho","10":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19625,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19620\/revisions\/19625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}