Media Blinded by Solar View

Variations of this letter appeared in the Chico News & Review and the Chico Enterprise-Record.

Energy conservation is a laudable activity, promoted by environmental groups such as Butte Environmental Council for decades. How one accomplishes this is equally important. The Butte-Glenn Community College District failed to act responsibly when analyzing possible sites for solar panels using the least rigorous standard of review and notifying interested parties and adjacent landowners. Compounding those errors in judgment and possible illegality, the local newspapers continue to miss opportunities to adequately inform the public.

To provide some background, Butte Valley Preservation Society is challenging the district’s solar project for failing to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. When projects will significantly impact the environment, CEQA requires environmental review that provides analysis of alternatives (like roof or parking lot placement), notifying the public and interested parties, and presenting thorough analysis of the environment impacts. This project will directly impact 13.5 acres of oak woodland and wetland savanna on property that the district designated as a preserve due to the valuable resources found there.

In a February 3, 2005 editorial in the CNR and a February 5, 2005 editorial in the Enterprise Record, a restraining order decision was misinterpreted as a profound statement on the merits of an environmental law case, which has yet to be heard. To start, the acting judge has no knowledge of environmental law – he is a criminal judge – the “environmental” judge had to disqualify himself due to conflicts. Second, anyone that attempts a CEQA case in Butte County knows full well that you better count on an appeal as Butte County has such limited expertise in this area of law. This current CEQA case has merit, with the district not only avoiding the spirit of the law, but also undertaking the weakest form of environmental review on their sensitive preserve. A critical review of the district’s historic practices also demonstrates a pattern by the district to act in this manner. For example, the district previously destroyed wetlands that are protected under the Clean Water Act without permits and even acknowledges this error in a 1991 memo: “Our record to present in terms of wetland preservation is not good, possibly illegal.” It would behoove our educational institutions to not only teach about the environment, but to exhibit an environmental ethic.

In closing, we realize that Butte County’s media is even more constrained financially than larger mainstream news outlets. Investigative reporting is time consuming, therefore expensive, which is why it is so easy for media to default to sources that are viewed as credible in our system: government, business, and some academic sources. Educational institutions are habitually accepted as credible even in the face of years of mismanagement and duplicitous behavior (e.g. Chico’s Canyon View High). While we give credit to the CNR for articles presenting opposing views on this topic, neither paper has pursued the detailed entanglements and paper trail. All too often the local media show their built-in bias towards mainstream “official” sources such as business and government (such as schools), while ignoring non-mainstream sources such as individuals and grassroots groups. BEC encourages local media outlets to investigate many of the documented irregularities with this solar project, learn more about California’s environmental laws, and consider media’s inherent bias toward “official” sources.

Posted May 11, 2005