Letter to the Editor 01-04-12

Local resident: Solar plants bring jobs, school enrollment

Several weeks ago The Leader reported on our declining school enrollment and asked, Where are our students going?

For me, one answer was across the street, where a couple with three school-age children bought an $80,000, 3-bedroom home in 2003 when $2-per-gallon gas made the 20-mile commute to work affordable. Then the economy crashed. Work hours got cut. Prices of everything nearly doubled. Money couldn’t stretch enough.

They discontinued their trash pickup service. The family slept by the fireplace to cut heating costs. The kids were home schooled to save on transportation fees. Sell the house? They owed too much. A loan modification failed.

Finally they gave up, declared bankruptcy and moved to a cheap rental closer to work in Hesperia. The bank foreclosed and the house sat vacant 18 months. Then recently, the property sold for just $22,000. The new owners are retirees who have no school-age children.

Repeat this scenario all over Lucerne Valley and it’s no mystery why students are leaving Lucerne Valley. The situation is critical. Declining school enrollment means less state funding for school programs. While Johnson Valley campers and offroaders contribute to our economy, their children will never attend our schools.

Maintaining a rural atmosphere is the main objective in Lucerne Valley’s general plan. This ideal, taken too literally, means some people object to any kind of economic development. Recent proposals for numerous green energy projects have met with considerable resistance at Lucerne Valley Economic Development Association meetings because folks think such installations would spoil our rural environment.

But look at the rural Primm, Nevada area, where First Solar is completing one solar project that employed about 400 people and is in the permitting stage for another project on the California side of the state line. Nearby, BrightSource is constructing another solar plant, employing more than 800 people with an expected ramp up to roughly 1,400.

BrightSource is also considering a solar project near Johnson Valley, potentially employing 1,500 during its three-year construction and 80 permanent employees when the plant is up and running. Compare that to one of our local mines, Omya, which employs only 63.

Lucerne Valley covers 500 square miles! Surely we could give up just four of those square miles to create more local employment.

Companies are waiting to be welcomed. We have sunshine and the perfect plant location near the existing grid. An increased workforce would need to rent or buy our vacant houses. Their children would go to our schools; higher enrollment would qualify for more funding.

We should thank the Primm projects for showing us how to bring in new major employers, retain 99 percent of our rural atmosphere, refill our classrooms and give our children a bright future. Everyone’s a winner. What are we waiting for?

Contact solarjobsnow@yahoo.com to voice your support for a solar plant.

Sharon S. Henderson, PhD
Lucerne Valley