Eden Shullenberger
NEW HAVEN, Vt., June 29, 2020 – Green Lantern Solar and Bee the Change have teamed up on a second New Haven solar project to plant and maintain pollinator-friendly ground cover. The roughly 4.5 acre site will feature dozens of species of plants designed to attract species of pollinator insects and other beneficial bird species. This project follows up on a successful 2017 pollinator program that was completed by Green Lantern Solar and Bee the Change at a different array in the town. That project has a completed “Scorecard” from the University of Vermont’s “Pollinator-Friendly Solar Initiative” and is featured on the UVM Agricultural Extension’s website.
“The accelerating rate of species loss is a crisis that threatens our future food security,” said Dr. Mike Kiernan, who started Bee the Change with his wife Tawnya and daughters Emily and Leila. “The most forward-thinking solar developers, like the team at Green Lantern, are seizing the opportunity to make their land doubly useful, addressing pollinator habitat loss AND climate change.”
Green Lantern plants a pollinator-friendly mix of clover at most of its sites as ground cover, but decided it was time to work with Bee the Change again given how well the first New Haven site has fared.
“It’s a no-brainer for us,” said Green Lantern Director of Development Sam Carlson who has developed both New Haven projects. “Solar projects that encourage agricultural use benefit the landowner and the environment. The upside of integrating renewable energy projects into Vermont’s agricultural landscape is incontrovertible.”