
Transmission Professionals Group
The Transmission Professionals special interest group covers the distribution of power from generation to final destination.
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Are conservationists the biggest threat to our climate?

There are a lot of people who don't believe climate change is that big of a deal. Some of them acknowledge that it's real, but don't think climate change mitigation should ever be valued over economic interests and energy independence. Others just deny the whole thing together, or claim that it isn't caused by human activity. Conservationists, by and large, fall into neither of those categories. On the contrary, I think a poll would find that conservationists are disproportionately concerned with climate change and interested in slowing it.
This fact is what makes it so frustrating to read, time and time again, that conservationist groups oppose important transmission projects. The latest example of this phenomena I've seen comes out of Australia:
"A controversial project to construct 8 kilometres of overhead power transmission lines in Kosciuszko National Park for the Snowy 2.0 project has been given the green light.
The powerlines are set to be built west of Talbingo Reservoir to connect the Snowy 2.0 project to the National Electricity Market at Nurenmerenmong, east of Tumbarumba. "
Luckily, in this case it seems the conservationists won't have their way. Unfortunately that's not always the case. In the U.S. transmission projects are often slowed down, if not completely derailed, by the lobbying of conservationists. The paradox, of course, is that accelerated transmission development a prerequisite to cutting emissions and mitigating climate change.
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