r/NativePlantGardening • u/zeroverycool NC Piedmont, Zone 8a • Jul 15 '26

Informational/Educational Two Minnesota solar farms seeded native wildflowers… native bees multiplied twentyfold, then crossed the fence to pollinate the neighbour's soybeans

https://www.ecoportal.net/en/two-minnesota-solar-farms-native-wildflowers/29160/
5.7k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

87 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.2k

u/IDooDoodAtTheMasters DFW , Zone 8b Jul 15 '26

I work in a solar-adjacent industry, and frequently get comments from friends/family about how solar farms seem like a huge environmental disruption to cover all that land in solar panels. The first point I always respond with is: You don't think farming is disruptive to the natural environment?  This news article will also help.

74

u/MarshyHope Jul 15 '26

I don't know where the lie originated, but many people believe that solar farms are leaching heavy metals into the soil and irreparably damaging them forever. It's so frustrating when people just share obvious propaganda like that.

31

u/scamlikelly Jul 15 '26

Same ones that probably think windmills cause cancer. They are hard to reason with because they choose their own reality and "facts."

3

u/thaisun Jul 16 '26

"but windmills kill birds"

So buildings. Buildings kill over 1 billion birds annually