From Dan Haas:

Thirty five years in Copake have given me a lot of reasons to love the town. There’s the beauty of the Taconic mountains, visible from my front porch. There’s the quiet pleasure of walking from my house into “town” to buy groceries, get my hair cut, get lunch, go to the bank, maybe just walk quiet streets, and count on the likelihood of chatting with someone I know. Maybe most important is the fact that my kids lived happy childhoods here, exploring on their bikes, fishing in the pond behind the bank, smacking baseballs into the graveyard next door. So I’ve tried to give back, by coaching Little League, helping write a Comprehensive Plan, serving on the Board of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association for more years than I like to admit, stepping up to coordinate the town’s Climate Smart Task Force, and, for the last couple of years, co-chairing Friends of Columbia Solar and advocating for the building of Shepherd’s Run solar farm.

I’m well aware that many in town wouldn’t count this last involvement as “giving back.” Town meetings, letters to editors, editorials, websites, social media, and mostly, conversations have outlined the understandable objections to the project.

Like opponents, I cherish the beauty of Copake. That’s why I’ve worked hard to support a 220 acre, 60 megawatt project. Given the urgency of the threat of climate change, we must choose whether to take concrete action now, or risk serious, maybe disastrous consequences in the not so distant future.

With all my heart, I wish it was crazy to state that climate change may be “the gravest threat humanity has ever faced.” It’s not crazy. Copake, so far, has escaped the worst effects, but coming decades may bring damaged agriculture, die-off of key tree species, droughts and floods. If millions are displaced by lethal heat, how could that not effect Copake? If animal species go extinct at a rate not seen since the Permian, how could that not effect Copake?

Almost without exception, people I’ve spoken to agree that climate change is a serious issue — but Shepherd’s Run is the wrong solution. When asked for a better one, nothing is offered beyond “statewide planning” or perhaps a vague hope for hydrogen cells or nuclear power.

But the choices we face are not as stark as they appear at first glance. Rather than condemn the project because it displaces agriculture, why not figure out how to combine solar panels and farming? Rather than fret that the visual character of the area will be lost, why not push the developer to do a better job of screening? In general, why not work to make this a better project? That’s been the approach of Friends of Columbia Solar, as well as the organizations that formed the Working Group. Town meetings, publicity, lobbying by the Working Group have resulted in concessions from Hecate, documented in their latest application. Building this solar project doesn’t have to result in a dire threat to the town’s future. Inaction? That might.