The Nation's Largest Wind Farm: Planned in Wyoming, Built for California

The Los Angeles Times recently published a big, interactive feature about plans to build the largest wind farm in the United States—and ship the electricity to California via a 732-mile power line.

Sammy Roth reports on location for story to detail the tensions between the press need for renewable energy sources and the resistance of locals. “Solar and wind farms can create jobs and tax revenues, reduce deadly air pollution and slow rising temperatures. But they can also disrupt wildlife habitat and destroy sacred Indigenous sites. Some small-town residents consider them industrial eyesores,” writes Roth.

The project is backed by Phil Anschutz, owner of the Coachella music festival, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. and L.A.'s Crypto.com Arena. Work is already underway: crews are constructing gravel roads and pads for some 600 turbines.

The bulk of the article is devoted to speaking directly with people living and working in the area around the planned wind farm. The article suggests that developing clean energy solutions will require California and other highly populated areas to find common ground with the locals affected by these projects.