Just a short drive or bike ride from the City of Livermore, North Livermore Valley is an agricultural community with stunning views in all directions of pasturelands, rolling hills and distant mountains. It is one of the last remaining agricultural districts in Alameda County. The valley provides a habitat for multiple threatened and endangered species, playing a vital role in maintaining the biodiversity of the East Bay. 

This beautiful valley is in immediate danger of being converted into an industrial zone. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has already authorized a private, for-profit energy corporation to convert hundreds of acres of agricultural land next to North Livermore Avenue into a massive industrial solar power plant, called the Aramis project. 

On April 22, 2021, the Board of Supervisors will decide whether to approve a second large utility scale solar facility, called the Sunwalker project, also located in North Livermore Valley and immediately adjacent to the Aramis project. 

We, the signers of this petition, call on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to stop further industrial development of North Livermore Valley and reject the Sunwalker solar plant. North Livermore Valley has been an agricultural district for over a century and should remain one. Its scenic vistas, natural habitat and open space of the North Livermore Valley belong to all of us and must be preserved for future generations.

We further call on the Board of Supervisors, before approving any new industrial solar plants, to adopt a solar policy for rural Alameda County. The county should have a comprehensive plan, based on public input, that ensures any new solar facilities will be located in areas that pose the least conflict with our open space, agricultural land, wildlife habitat and scenic resources. Other counties, including Santa Clara and Contra Cost Counties, have adopted comprehensive solar policies. Alameda County should do the same.

While we appreciate the need to address climate change by expanding sources of renewable energy, the County should proceed in a thoughtful manner. The county should not allow private, for-profit energy corporations to decide where to locate power plants regardless of the environmental consequences. We should never destroy the environment to save the environment.