If the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas production, then cutting down trees is counterproductive when installing solar panels. Also cutting trees down if they are just along the edge of the array makes little sense because the great majority of solar energy is during the middle of the day, not early morning nor late afternoon.
Putting solar panels in places that are just creating heat islands, not habitats, makes lots of sense. Put them on rooftops. Put them over parking lots. Put them on lawns that were already getting mowed. That's why home solar is great, but industrial scale makes problems. Those fields that are being replaced as solar "farms" (cute name) will still get rain and have seeds blow in. How will succession be blocked? Poisons? If Cornell first decided to put solar panels on all its rooftops and over all its parking lots, then over, say, the Ag Quad, and had run out places where they could put solar panels without being destructive, I'd be more supportive. I think that grove is pretty special, having seen several Long-eared Owls and a Northern Saw-whet Owl there. --Dave Nutter > On Mar 20, 2017, at 12:18 PM, marsha kardon <mfkar...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Please consider this in your efforts to minimize your contribution to climate > change: > > Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report > warns > > > 6.3K > Share > Print > > 29 November 2006 – Cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse > gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation, and smarter > production methods, including improved animal diets to reduce enteric > fermentation and consequent methane emissions, are urgently needed, according > to a new United Nations report released today. > > “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most > serious environmental problems,” senior UN Food and Agriculture Organization > (FAO) official Henning Steinfeld said. “Urgent action is required to remedy > the situation.” > > Cattle-rearing is also a major source of land and water degradation, > according to the FAO report, Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and > Options, of which Mr. Steinfeld is the senior author. > > “The environmental costs per unit of livestock production must be cut by one > half, just to avoid the level of damage worsening beyond its present level,” > it warns. > > When emissions from land use and land use change are included, the livestock > sector accounts for 9 per cent of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, > but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It > generates 65 per cent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the > Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2. Most of this comes from manure. > > And it accounts for respectively 37 per cent of all human-induced methane (23 > times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system > of ruminants, and 64 per cent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to > acid rain. > > With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products > every year, the report notes. Global meat production is projected to more > than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in > 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes. > > The global livestock sector is growing faster than any other agricultural > sub-sector. It provides livelihoods to about 1.3 billion people and > contributes about 40 per cent to global agricultural output. For many poor > farmers in developing countries livestock are also a source of renewable > energy for draft and an essential source of organic fertilizer for their > crops. > > Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly > permanent pasture but also including 33 per cent of the global arable land > used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are > cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, > especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 per cent of former > forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing. > > At the same time herds cause wide-scale land degradation, with about 20 per > cent of pastures considered degraded through overgrazing, compaction and > erosion. This figure is even higher in the drylands where inappropriate > policies and inadequate livestock management contribute to advancing > desertification. > > The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s > increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water > pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from > tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. > > Beyond improving animal diets, proposed remedies to the multiple problems > include soil conservation methods together with controlled livestock > exclusion from sensitive areas; setting up biogas plant initiatives to > recycle manure; improving efficiency of irrigation systems; and introducing > full-cost pricing for water together with taxes to discourage large-scale > livestock concentration close to cities. > > >> On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 11:55 AM, Martha Fischer <m...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> Dear All - >> >> Please make a commitment to USE LESS ENERGY. >> >> Turn off lights that are not being used. >> >> Reduce your use of the clothes dryer and other conveniences. >> >> Accept inconvenience. >> >> And then let¹s have this discussion. >> >> Take care, >> >> Martha Fischer >> Town of Enfield >> >> On 3/20/17, 9:48 AM, "bounce-121351030-3494...@list.cornell.edu on behalf >> of Nari Mistry" <bounce-121351030-3494...@list.cornell.edu on behalf of >> n...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> >> >There is urgent need for lovers of birds and wildlife along Dodge Rd. to >> >be aware of imminent developments along Dodge Rd. >> > >> >The massive industrial scale solar farm proposed in all the Cornell >> >owned fields along Dodge Rd and Stevenson Rd (as well as Turkey Hill >> >Rd.) is planning to start construction in a few weeks. There was a >> >hearing in Dryden last Thursday at which many residents spoke out >> >against the massive scale of the project which will devastate wildlife >> >habitat. >> > >> >We have just learned this morning from a member of the Dryden >> >Conservation Board that they are proposing to cut down the Spruce Woods >> >bordering the WEST side of Dodge Rd. because they will shadow the panels >> >slated to go right along the very edge of Dodge R. next to a >> >(barbed-wire topped) fence! >> > >> >If you are concerned about this assault and the effect of replacing all >> >the grassland in the fields with sod under the panels (and >> >herbicides???), please write immediately to the Dryden Town Board and >> >ATTEND THE PLANNING BOARD MEETING scheduled on THIS Thursday March 23, >> >at 7pm at the Dryden Town Hall on Main Street. >> > >> >Please express your opinion that may help reduce the scale of this >> >commercial operation that will devastate wildlife in this favorite >> >location for viewing wildlife! >> > >> > Nari & Gin Mistry >> > >> > Ellis Hollow rd. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >-- >> > >> >Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> >http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> >http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> >http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> > >> >ARCHIVES: >> >1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> >2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds >> >3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html >> > >> >Please submit your observations to eBird: >> >http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> > >> >-- >> >> >> -- >> >> Cayugabirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- >> > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
