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Labor targets the solar industry
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Pangea on 10/12/2009 22:00:00
 
The New York Times ran an interesting story Friday on labor unions targeting
"environmental" issues associated with large solar power developments but only
those that won't commit to using union labor.
The Times cited Mountain View-based Ausra and Oakland-based BrightSource as its
two main examples. BrightSource has signed contracts to use union labor to build
the utility-scale solar thermal power plants it has planned for the Mojave
desert. Ausra hasn't. And hence, Ausra has been deluged with requests form a
group made up of contractor unions to study environmental impacts of their
projects.
Said the Times story:
As California moves to license dozens of huge solar power plants to meet the
state’s renewable energy goals, some developers contend they are being
pressured to sign agreements pledging to use union labor. If they refuse, they
say, they can count on the union group to demand costly environmental studies
and deliver hostile testimony at public hearings.
For environmental purposes, Ausra and BrightSource do almost the same thing.
They both use acres and acres of mirrors in the desert to direct the sun onto a
given point and create steam to turn turbines. There's very little reason to
believe one would have a much different impact on desert creatures than another.
A representative for the Unions told the Times they don't "walk away from
environmental problems." But it's hard to overlook the discrepancy here.