Opposition to solar continues by Beatty board

At its Aug. 8 meeting, the Beatty Town Advisory Board voted to send letters of opposition to two more solar energy projects, both of which were proposed for locations in Amargosa Valley.

“These are two more huge projects,” said board treasurer Erika Gerling. “We should comment and voice our objections because these things are going to keep coming.”

Karl Olson suggested that solar and wind energy developers should build their new projects in areas already visually disturbed by such development, and board chairman Randy Reed suggested that the test site could be used.

The board also named six members to its new solar energy project subcommittee: Debbie Baker, Ann Marchand, Laura Cunningham, Kevin Emmerich, Karl Olson, and Nancy Sollinger.

Baker and Marchand have been active in Beatty community affairs for many years. Cunningham and Emmerich, who live on a property north of town, are co-founders of Basin and Range Watch, a nonprofit dedicated to defending the desert from development. Olson is the on-site volunteer caretaker of Rhyolite, and Sollinger, a former NCSD Board member, lives in Sarcobatus Flat near Scotty’s Junction.

The board also approved sending a letter of opposition to a proposal by the state to adopt the California low and zero emissions vehicle standards starting with model year 2025.

Reed, who introduced the matter, said it was just another example of “California pushing more rules on Nevada.” He also said that he thought it would make vehicles cost more.

Gerling pointed out that communities in Nye County have a hard time agreeing that what is good for one community is good for another, so she didn’t think “we’re going to agree that what’s good for California is good for all of Nevada.”

Olson said, “Each state should design their own standards, not adopt someone else’s,” to which Reed readily agreed.

Via telephone, board member Perry Forsyth added, “We should keep California crap in California.”

On a more positive note, the board voted to send a letter of support for Nye County Bill 2021-09 which would require marijuana businesses to obtain a letter of support or opposition from a town’s elected or advisory board as part of its application for a Special Use Permit.

“Now this is something I would like to support,” said Gerling. “The people in the community should have a say in what is happening in their town.”

Richard Stephens is a freelance reporter living in Beatty.