Pulaski county, Indiana is flat, sunny and full of farmland. For decades its farmers have produced cobs of golden yellow corn. But now the area is being earmarked to produce something else: energy. Its famers are being offered a guaranteed income to use their land to host America’s largest solar power farm. It’s an offer many are keen to take up.
The Guardian’s US environment correspondent, Oliver Milman, tells Hannah Moore that when fully operational, the solar farm will be able to power up to 250,000 households. But not everyone is onboard. Attempts to get the power flowing have been disrupted by an increasingly bitter campaign from opponents who believe the solar panels to be an eyesore, a threat to their way of life and for some (without evidence), a conspiracy that would fry birdlife and intoxicate the soil. Lawyers on both sides are involved and progress has been painfully slow.
As Joe Biden arrives in Egypt for the Cop27 climate talks today, he will be preparing to tell a story of how far the US has moved towards its net zero goal. But for every pledge of investment in renewable energy, there is a vast effort needed in local communities to make those projects happen.
Photograph: Taylor Glascock/The Guardian
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