Solar Farm Rejected For Fear of Too Much Energy Sucking

John Keefer

Devilish Rogue
Aug 12, 2013
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Solar Farm Rejected For Fear of Too Much Energy Sucking

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Rezoning for a solar farm in Woodland, NC, was nixed after the community expressed fears that the panels would take up too much of the sun's energy and leave too little for local business.

From the "You don't hear that every day" department:

The Woodland, NC, town council refused to rezone some land so a solar farm could be added. The problem? Some members of the community expressed fears ranging from the panels could cause cancer to the farm would suck up too much energy from the surrounding area.

Two of the most vocal against the rezoning was a married couple, Jane and Bobby Mann. The wife is a retired science teacher and expressed reservations that the solar farm would inhibit photosynthesis of plants in the area. She also pointed to the high number of cancer cases, and said she has not gotten any proof that the panels are not the culprit (the council has previously approved three other solar farms in the area).

"I want to know what's going to happen," she said. "I want information. Enough is enough. I don't see the profit for the town. People come with hidden agendas. Until we can find if anything is going to damage this community, we shouldn't sign any paper."

The husband said the panels were "killing the town," and even went so far as to say that the solar farms would suck up all the energy from the sun and businesses would not come to Woodland, according to the Roanoke-Chowan Herald-News [http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/2015/12/08/woodland-rejects-solar-farm/].

Others felt that more solar farms would hurt property values, and one woman even presented a petition requesting that further solar farms be put on a referendum during elections.

The council voted to not rezone in a vote of 3-1 and passed a moratorium on future farms, thereby halting Strata Solar Company from building the solar site. A spokesman for the firm who was at the meeting tried to reassure residents, saying "the panels don't draw additional sunlight" and that solar panels were a "tried and true technology."

Ah, to be a fly on that wall during the discussion.

Source: Huffington Post [http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/2015/12/08/woodland-rejects-solar-farm/]



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spartandude

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Nov 24, 2009
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So I heard there were talks in Paris recently about something... something to with climate change and switching to renewable energy? Nah!
 

Mister K

This is our story.
Apr 25, 2011
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At first, I wanted to write something semi-witty. Then I sighed sadly and started writing what you see now.

And you are asking why USA started to lose leading role in the world. Among other reasons.
 

Morti

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Aug 19, 2008
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Democracy! Freedom! Wooo!

The unfortunate downside to democracy is that sometimes the idiots have the numbers.
 

MonsterCrit

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Feb 17, 2015
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Aaaaaand yes america it's people like this that will be voting to decide the guy that will be leading your country. Sleep well.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
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Barbas said:
Some of these people are highly motivated voters.
Indeed the number of votes they posted must be equal to or greater than thier IQ.
 

Kajin

This Title Will Be Gone Soon
Apr 13, 2008
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Holy... There's no way this is true. People can't be this stupid, they just can't...
 

Sniper Team 4

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Apr 28, 2010
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Suck up all the energy of the sun? Seriously? I can't even...does he understand what the sun IS?! This is literally hurting my brain. There's stupid, and then there's this. Do these people still think the Earth is flat? Or that the universe revolves around Earth?
And this woman was a teacher? A SCIENCE TEACHER?!

Walk away, Strata Solar Company. Walk away and never look back.

Dear God, I want to go into this town and smack these people. The ones that don't like how they look, fine, you have a fair point. I don't agree with it, but okay. But all the other excuses? Why? How have you survived this long on this planet? Is the internet some form of magic to you? Do you still dream of going to the moon so you can eat its lovely cheese rocks? ARGH!!!!
I need to leave. I can't take this.
 

sonicneedslovetoo

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Jul 6, 2015
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this is so stupid that I don't have a single point of reference for it. I'm saying this without any hint of irony here, is this a joke? like one of those stories about that country off somewhere or another where they do something stupid like lick eachother's eyeballs or something. Personally I would prefer that to be associated with America than this.

I mean I could understand this if the solar panels were being built on a park and people didn't want them there, or if they were building them on some tourist attraction and they would ugly up the place and reduce tourism income. But seriously? these are the reasons I'd think up if I was literally five years old, wait no I wouldn't I wouldn't think up these reasons because even as a five year old before the internet I would get up off my ass and actually do some research.
 

NPC009

Don't mind me, I'm just a NPC
Aug 23, 2010
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I thought there were legitimate reasons not to put large amounts of solar panels together, such as the reflective surfaces confusing birds, but this... sheesh.

(My sister has solar panels on her roof. During the warmer months, the energy company pays her. Won't be long before the investment is earned back. Solar energy is pretty awesome.)
 

Hawki

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I'm suddenly thinking of Duke Nukem from Captain Planet.

No idea why. 0_0
 

Matthew Lynch

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Jun 26, 2010
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I';ll let jontron sum my thoughts up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVZ2vk3PYPE

How do those people function? I....I....words have completely failed me.
 

Hevach

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Dec 18, 2013
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A science teacher? She's a science teacher? I don't even know how to insult this kind of ignorance properly.
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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This is funny kind of. I mean, it's terrible, but it's not representative of the general understanding of solar for the US. The town has a population of 733 as of 2013.

My coworkers and I laughed our asses off when the retired "science teacher" said what she said though, it's too funny.

I have a tiny little homonculus in my head screaming this has to be from the Onion.
 

Matthew Lynch

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Jun 26, 2010
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Hevach said:
A science teacher? She's a science teacher? I don't even know how to insult this kind of ignorance properly.
With great ease? Post her a copy of an A-level science textbook?
 

Dosbilliam

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My immediate response to this, had I been there in real life, would have been a string of profanity that'd make Bill Hicks rise from the dead for a round of applause.

There's literally no excuse for this type of stupidity, especially from a former science teacher. If she was still an active teacher, I can bet there'd be a petition for her credentials to be voided due to the utter lack of basic knowledge in the subject she taught. Seriously, that's kindergarten-level knowledge that she seems to have completely missed.
 

Matthew Lynch

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Jun 26, 2010
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Dosbilliam said:
My immediate response to this, had I been there in real life, would have been a string of profanity that'd make Bill Hicks rise from the dead for a round of applause.

There's literally no excuse for this type of stupidity, especially from a former science teacher. If she was still an active teacher, I can bet there'd be a petition for her credentials to be voided due to the utter lack of basic knowledge in the subject she taught. Seriously, that's kindergarten-level knowledge that she seems to have completely missed.
Maybe thats why she retired?
 

marioandsonic

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Nov 28, 2009
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Oh for fuck's sake...

All I can think of is this Lewis Black joke:

"You know why we don't have solar energy? It's because the sun goes away each day, and it doesn't tell us where it's going!"