On Sold Out, Poised to Cut & Theater of the Absurd

 

"Michigan is poised to cut down hundreds of acres of forest in order to make space for a solar panel development, MLive reported Thursday.

The state will soon start competitive bidding on approximately 420 acres of forested land near Gaylord, Michigan, to clear space for a solar farm while generating revenue and advancing the state’s long-term green energy targets, according to MLive. There is some evidence suggesting that such a move would actually increase emissions, and Michigan is one of the least-sunny states in the country, according to analysis conducted by The Washington Post.

'This is pretty amazing. Michigan is not like California, it’s not like the sun is always shining there,' Dan Kish, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. 'This is the theater of the absurd, and it’s all driven by tax credits and giveaways from the federal and state government, and by mandates that the governor there has implemented.'"

"In Michigan, Democratic lawmakers last year passed legislation requiring utilities to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040. To meet that mandate, Michigan may need to devote another 209,000 acres to wind and solar energy."

It's not like Michigan's forests haven't been leveled before for the sake of profit. (Michigan lumber was used to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire.) This time it's happening in the name of another kind of green, the behind the scenes money made from saving the earth by misusing and destroying its natural systems for profit.