Land use

Food and farms

Fear of farmland loss slows solar and wind development

Renewable energy projects can help small-scale farmers make ends meet, but some rural residents don’t like changes to the agricultural landscape.

By Claire Carlson . 18 February 2026
Solar

Most of Virginia restricts solar farms. Lawmakers want to change that.

As more counties effectively shut out utility-scale solar, the legislature is advancing a measure that would block blanket bans and establish siting standards.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 6 February 2026
Food and farms

Missouri Senate considers bills to halt solar development on farmland

Proposals to stop or rein in large-scale solar projects drew emotional testimony and highlighted growing conflicts over land use and property rights.

By Rudi Keller . 5 February 2026
Solar

A rare plant species thrives amid solar panels in the Nevada desert

The Gemini Solar Project has become a haven for the threecorner milkvetch — yet more proof that solar farms can be designed to minimize ecosystem disturbance.

By Matt Simon . 2 February 2026
Solar

Is solar really overrunning farmland? Data in North Carolina says no.

Arrays occupy a “minuscule” share of farmland even though the state is a solar leader, a new study finds — belying claims from the Trump admin and others.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 29 January 2026
Data centers

After a white town rejected a data center, developers eyed a Black area

Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are “overwhelmingly” non-white.

By Adam Mahoney . 14 January 2026
Land use

Ohio to fast-track energy at former coal mines and brownfields

It’s part of a new law meant to boost power production amid rising demand — and it could help renewables grow faster while putting industrial land to use.

By Kathiann M. Kowalski . 15 October 2025
Solar

Can farmland thrive with solar? This Virginia nonprofit is finding out.

The agrivoltaics demonstration project is experimenting with growing crops under solar panels to determine what works and help educate a wary public.

By Elizabeth Ouzts . 14 October 2025
Solar

California's first solar-covered canal is now fully online

The 1.6-MW pilot system is among a growing number of initiatives to put solar over waterways. The approach could generate gigawatts of power nationwide.

By Maria Gallucci . 10 September 2025
Land use

Trump admin’s new anti-renewables rule rooted in fossil-fuel misinformation

The Interior Department’s directive casts solar and wind energy as bad for the environment, without weighing costs of oil, coal, and gas, critics say.

By Kathiann M. Kowalski . 25 August 2025