Thanks goes out to all who submitted comments for the Draft Environmental Impact Report and for those who attended the Town Hall meeting with Congressman Sam Farr. We appreciate all of the support. The next important meeting is the Agricultural Preserve Advisory Committee meeting (aka L.C.A.) which is being held on Thursday, September 2nd, 1:30 p.m. Board of Supervisor's Chambers on 4th Street in Hollister. Presentations will be made by Solargen, Planning, County Assesor and possibly the Ag Commissioner, to name a few. This meeting will be open to Public Comment, so please attend if at all possible and speak out in opposition to Solargen's Large Scale Solar Utility.
* There is a Solar development plan that most environmental groups approve of - 30,000 acres on retired agriculture land in the central valley Westlands - that site has no high habitat or agricultural value. Panoche Valley should be the site to use as mitigation for other solar projects.
* Solar belongs on rooftops, brown fields, over land fills, close to urban areas, retired ag land with no habitat value - not on prime ag land and pristine open space that is the last refuge for many Threatened and Endangered species.
* This project would put all the farmers and ranchers in Panoche Valley, who all produce food sustainably and in harmony with nature and sell throughout the SF Bay Area, out of business due to the dust generated on the project site after the surface vegetation is removed. The dust will choke out all plant life in the valley and lead to desertification. That's 20 local family owned farms & ranches and over 100 jobs lost, to be replaced by just 10 Solargen jobs after construction is complete.
* It doesn't make sense to say this project may decrease our dependence on foreign oil while it increases our dependence on foreign food.
* San Benito will suffer a loss of tax revenue since solar projects are exempt from paying any, and accrue huge debt to pay for repairs on the road and bridges leading into the valley.
* This project is being irresponsibly rushed through the planning process so that Solargen will qualify to receive $360 million of your tax dollars via ARRA funds. They will then be using those funds to purchase solar panels in China from a Chinese manufacturer with less than 1 years experience. And speaking of experience, Solargen has none in solar, having never built a solar project of any size before. It's a venture capitalist startup created by people from the oil drilling and ethanol industry in order to capture federal stimulus dollars.
* The planning process would be smooth if counties identified sites with little controversy, then selected the best qualified solar developer to develop the site.
Contact Your Elected LeadersLet your voice be heard with your local leaders
Hollister City Council
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Eugenia Sanchez
Council member, District 2
(831) 801-9057 |
Hollister City Hall
375 Fifth St.
Hollister, CA 95023
Phone: (831) 636-4300
Fax: (831) 636-4310
www.hollister.ca.gov
San Juan Bautista City Council
San Juan Bautista City Hall
311 Second Street
P.O. Box 1420
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045
(831) 623-4661
info@san-juan-bautista.ca.us
www.san-juan-bautista.ca.us
San Benito County Board of Supervisors
San Benito County Administration Building
481 4th St., 1st Floor
Hollister, CA 95023
Phone: (831) 636.4000
Fax: (831) 636.4010
www.san-benito.ca.us
San Benito County Water District Board
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John Tobias
6344 Pacheco Pass Highway
Hollister, California 95023 |
Kenneth Perry
420 Lucy Brown Road
San Juan Bautista, CA 95045 |
Frank Bettencourt
1019 Powell Street
Hollister, CA 95023 |
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Robert M. Swanson
7684 Southside Road
Tres Pinos, California 95075 |
Sonny Flores
424 6th St.
Hollister, CA 95023 |
San Benito County Water District Office
30 Mansfield Road
P.O. Box 899
Hollister, CA 95024
Phone: (831) 637-8218
Fax: (831) 637-7267
www.sbcwd.com
San Benito County Officials
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Joe Paul Gonzalez
Clerk-auditor-recorder
(831) 636-4029 |
Robbie Scattini
Marshal
(831) 636-4028 |
State Assembly
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Anna Caballero 28th State Assembly District (Gilroy, Hollister, unincorporated areas east of Gilroy, San Martin and Morgan Hill to San Jose, Watsonville, Salinas) State Capitol, Room 3134 Post Office Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0028 (916) 319-2028 assemblymember.caballero@assembly.ca.gov |
State Senators
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Jeff Denham 12th State Senate District (Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and San Benito counties and part of Monterey County) 369 Main St., #208 Salina, CA 93901 (831) 769-8040 cssrc.us/web/12/contact_us.aspx |
Governor
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Arnold Schwarzenegger State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841 Fax: 916-445-4633 governor@governor.ca.gov |
U.S. Congress Representatives
U.S. Senators
Final Results on the Hollister Freelance poll that asked, "Six months before Solargen Energy hopes to have an OK from the county for a 420-megawatt solar farm proposal, would you support its approval?"
Final results: 1505 total votes, 24% say yes, 72% say no and 4% are undecided.
Exceptional essay, 'A Renewable Conflict,' written by Casey Mills for the newly launched 'California Northern Magazine.' Rani Douglas and Shani Kleinhaus are interviewed, among others, and their words are not taken out of context. In order to read the entire article, you must purchase it. Click on image below for an excerpt from this essay:
Solargen pushes for out of country financing for their proposed Solar Utility in Panoche Valley. Excerpt from the Hollister Freelance, "The company proposing to build a 420-megawatt solar farm in southern San Benito County in recent months has developed several ties with Asian investors in its efforts toward raising the necessary capital to get the project approved by the end of the year."
"Most recently, Solargen Energy's chief executive officer has been in China recruiting potential investors through the federal immigration EB-5 program. It allows foreign financiers and their families an opportunity for green cards and permanent residency by investing at least $500,000 toward development of jobs in designated high-unemployment areas such as San Benito County."
Click on image below for the complete story:
Donations to 'Friends of Panoche' are being accepted through the Fresno Audubon Society.
Please notate 'Friends of Panoche' in the description box when making your donation.
Click on the image below to enter their site.
Thanks for your Support!
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CBS Interview - Kim Williams of Your Family Farm.
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Monterey Weekly - Hot Panoche by Kera Abraham.
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The photos below, are courtesy of Richard Nolthenius - Visiting Researcher, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dr. Rick Nolthenius
Instructor & Program Contact for Astronomy
B.S. Mathematics, M.S. Mech.Eng., PhD Astronomy
With Cabrillo College since 1986
Visit his Home Page
Astro 9'rs Big Adventure! A trip away from the light-polluted fog-plagued skies of Aptos. Our destination is shown as one of the darkest sites in central California on http://cleardarksky.com/c/PnchPsskey.html.
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