To the editor,

We need to have a moratorium on large scale solar and we need to review how we land use plan in this county and nationwide. We also need a moratorium on large farming operations over 1,000 animal units but that will be discussed in another letter. However, both are connected because our economy, our environment, and our quality of life are all connected and they ALL need to be protected. You can't protect one of these and ignore another. It is setting up everything to fail and we are dealing with such failures. We lack adult leadership in all levels of office and we are paying for it immensely.

What kind of safety protocols will be used to protect the health and safety of our residents, especially with severe weather? Are these panels be recycled? Can they be cleaned without using forever chemicals (PFAS)? Do we have proper trained and equipped fire departments in case these panels and electrical storage units start on fire? Do we have enough electrical technicians to maintain these large-scale solar farms? Our education system is poorly funded and very broken. Unfortunately, staff and poorly supported schools are too often administered by administrators and elected officials who don't care about the educational needs of our children. More questions need to be answered, not something to be rubber stamped carelessly.

I am not against the idea of alternative energy generation. I want good land use planning and regulations. Can we put solar on existing buildings and parking lots? Hopefully, we promote a better education system so we can create more research and development of better, safer and cost-effective technologies. Addressing issues rather than ignoring them would solve more problems than it creates. Lack of addressing such issues is why the bottom 90% are struggling.

John Shafer

Town of Gilman