Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

As woods give way to solar farms, state to issue controversial rules that could harm solar industry

The Boston Globe: When Brian Hagberg and his wife bought their four-bedroom home here more than a decade ago, the main appeal was the dense woods just off their backyard, which they were assured would never be developed. For years, their family used the patch of forest in this suburb west of Boston to hike, sled, walk their dog, and experience wildlife close at hand.

Then two years ago, a developer began clear-cutting the woods, denuding more than a dozen acres of maples, oaks, and other large, mature trees to make way for a solar farm. How, the couple wondered, could a renewable energy project meant to reduce emissions come at the expense of removing so many trees, the planet’s primary means of removing carbon from the atmosphere?

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