I would argue there is no land problem.
First, the project proposed is in Arizona on land not suited for agriculture.
Secondly, we have an excess of agricultural land. Farms in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia are going fallow as the generational change moves people from farms to cities.
T he loss of land to housing and development is trivial as a function of the available total.
Further west there is a similar situation. As prices rise, land that is now unproductive will be used.
According to this article:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0221biz-solar0221.html
This solar plant will be built on land previously used for raising alfalfa- which is of course fed to livestock...which we eat- hence food source. I also noted in this article it talks about using salt as part of the process- which may very well mean the land may be contaminated and could never be farmed again.
I do worry about agricultural land being converted to other uses, there really is only so much suitable land for farming and livestock and if we use it for other things it will eventually become a problem.
If you have surplus farm land in TN, that is great- but we need agriculture spread out over the country, otherwise the freight will put the cost of food out of sight in many areas. I would hate to think what I would have to pay for food grown in TN and trucked out here to the southwest, especially at today’s fuel prices.
I would feel better about this project if they had built it out in the stark desert instead of diverting farm ground. I suspected they were using farm ground because of the price they paid per acre- stark desert does not cost that much.