How does 30x30 work with renewable energy?
iAmid calls to protect 30% of U.S. lands and water by 2030, the question is being asked how the 30x30 strategy can work given the growth of renewable energy operations. After all, both plans require vast swaths of land to achieve their goals.
Can our nation implement 30x30 while growing renewable energy? In a word, yes. But we must be thoughtful in how we do so.
Land trusts are experts in working with willing landowners to protect natural and working lands from development, but energy infrastructure siting sometimes jeopardizes these lands. In Virginia, for example, conservation easements have been condemned to make way for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. More remain at risk. The siting of transmission infrastructure, too, has endangered permanent conservation easements across our nation.
So, yes, there is some complexity in growing renewable energy as we pursue the 30x30 goal. But working through that complexity is essential as we combat climate change. We must ensure that progress in one arena does not diminish important work in another — and studies suggest a plethora of low-impact land is available for renewable energy development.
The Land Trust Alliance has been at the forefront of this issue. We launched a pilot program in 2016 to help land trusts in New York balance the buildout of renewable energy facilities with the protection of natural and working lands. (A report captured lessons learned from that program.) And more recently, we wrote to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce to advocate for smart siting and conservation-compatible infrastructure as part of a broad federal clean energy plan.
As we grow the network of protected lands in the U.S. to reach 30x30, we must commit to staunchly defend our nation’s existing conservation investment, including easements on private lands. Nature is a necessity, especially in the fight against climate change. And we know from our work in New York that renewable energy can be conservation compatible.
With careful planning, we can meet both our clean energy and our conservation goals. It all begins with acknowledging that both aims are integral pieces of one comprehensive climate plan.
Chelsea Welch is energy and climate policy advisor for the Land Trust Alliance.