Habitat destruction offsets for “renewables” are just indulgences

[rangerrebew]

Habitat destruction offsets for “renewables” are just indulgences
By
David Wojick
|
December 27th, 2024
 
A bad idea is emerging in the “renewables” world, namely that projects can buy their way out of destroying natural habitats. The wind and solar projects still destroy the natural habitats they are built on but they fund a magic wand that somehow supposedly creates new compensating habitat someplace else. Not really.

The fallacy here is that every acre in America already has a habitat. You can change an acre’s habitat from one form to another but not create one. It is a zero sum game.

There is a long standing, highly specialized development offset program that helps make the point. This is wetlands protection under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Wetlands are deemed to be so special that filling one in for development can be offset by creating one someplace else.

But if you convert dry land to wetland you have destroyed the dry land habitat. So the amount of habitat destruction is not reduced, just the amount of wetland destruction.

https://www.cfact.org/2024/12/27/habitat-destruction-offsets-for-renewables-are-just-indulgences/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=habitat-destruction-offsets-for-renewables-are-just-indulgences&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=habitat-destruction-offsets-for-renewables-are-just-indulgences