I'm not in the itemize-deductions bracket these days, but non-profit or not, I'm sure I'll keep subscribing to Land Desk. I like the vibe.
I'm sure those farmers who wanted to farm 100 MW of electrons on their 800 acres of combined dryland tracts south of Yellow Jacket aren't getting any bean or wheat harvest this year. I guess that's what the objectors at the county P&Z meant by preserving the ag heritage. They also sited their "pioneer ancestors" but wouldn't it be "pioneering" to change your crop to electrons after five generations of on and off harvests. And, "We don't want to export power to the big city." Um, don't the beans and wheat end up on the plate of some rainbow-haired urbanites? By that logic, let's not plant/graze any more land than is needed for food for Montezuma County residents and tourists. So a reduction of maybe 80-90%.
While it was held up as progress that Montezuma County passed a solar siting ordinance, it ended up with a 500 foot setback from property lines (not just dwellings) to the solar fenceline, so it makes a solar project on less than a contiguous 1000 acre parcel virtually impossible.
One of the best things to be done with fallowed land, whether it's dryland that became just too dry, or irrigated land that can't depend on its water supply anymore, is to farm electrons, and maybe the shade allows some different cropping or grazing or just a mix of grass and some pollinator forbs. Given our current situations, it boggles my mind that the Four Corners state governments devote so little of their energy or water budgets to this. (CO and AZ have tiny R&D and demo projects, but not as focused on the water side as they should be.) And folks please remember that the Four Corners states are still burning lots of coal and gas for electricity, and new solar is mostly displacing that, and not just feeding Meta's data centers.
Interesting story at the Heated substack about a hip, homesteader-ish influencer with tens of thousands of Instagram likes (bots, me hopes) spreading anti-solar disinformation.
My understanding is that you can deduct up to $1K in '26 without itemizing. Still, the idea that you can't really deduct much for charitable contributions if you have a normal income is yet another example of how inequitable the system is.
Hey Jonathan. Congratulations on obtaining your non-profit status! (The tax status, not the low income those of us who don't exploit Mother Earth or our fellow humans accept.) B.T.W., Bandi X. Lee, M.D., who wrote The Dangerous case of Donald Trump, has an excellent piece on Substack this week on how revolutions need people to free themselves from the need for external wealth and focus on internal wealth. Gives some relevant history, esp. French and American Revolutions, a good read. Not that we should suffer, more the Buddhist concept of "right livelihood," Doing work that is a positive for the world and receiving enough compensation to have a decent life. Going on for a minute about Dr. Lee, she is a powerful voice on how much our current crisis is about psychology and the dangers of "leaders" who are Malignant Narcissists. My position, people like Trump have the same disgusting psychological attitude towards everything from young women to Mother Earth.
But back to why I'm writing, are you set up to accept donations of stock? That way, the contributor can deduct the current value of the stock and avoid capital gains tax. Needed info from you would be: Receiving Institution Account Number; Account Title/Registration; Contact Name at Charitable Organization or Name of Individual Recipient and telephone number; Name of Receiving Institution and DTC Number.
Jon, Good question! I'll ask our accountant. I'm sure we are, we'll just figure out the logistics. If you'd like to donate some stock, email me at jonathanthompson70@gmail.com or meet me in October at our favorite campsite!
The federal government released Colorado River water management plan today that protects Colorado from mandatory, aggressive water cuts, placing the heaviest conservation burdens on Lower Basin states while establishing a voluntary conservation target for Upper Basin states and establishes a flexible 10-year framework to address historic lows at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
While Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, and Nevada) face mandatory reductions of up to 3 million acre-feet annually, Colorado and other Upper Basin states are only asked to meet a "voluntary" conservation goal of up to 200,000 acre-feet across the entire Upper Basin.
Now the Lower Basin States including California will finally have to take action to conserve, capture and store their own water!
I'm not in the itemize-deductions bracket these days, but non-profit or not, I'm sure I'll keep subscribing to Land Desk. I like the vibe.
I'm sure those farmers who wanted to farm 100 MW of electrons on their 800 acres of combined dryland tracts south of Yellow Jacket aren't getting any bean or wheat harvest this year. I guess that's what the objectors at the county P&Z meant by preserving the ag heritage. They also sited their "pioneer ancestors" but wouldn't it be "pioneering" to change your crop to electrons after five generations of on and off harvests. And, "We don't want to export power to the big city." Um, don't the beans and wheat end up on the plate of some rainbow-haired urbanites? By that logic, let's not plant/graze any more land than is needed for food for Montezuma County residents and tourists. So a reduction of maybe 80-90%.
While it was held up as progress that Montezuma County passed a solar siting ordinance, it ended up with a 500 foot setback from property lines (not just dwellings) to the solar fenceline, so it makes a solar project on less than a contiguous 1000 acre parcel virtually impossible.
One of the best things to be done with fallowed land, whether it's dryland that became just too dry, or irrigated land that can't depend on its water supply anymore, is to farm electrons, and maybe the shade allows some different cropping or grazing or just a mix of grass and some pollinator forbs. Given our current situations, it boggles my mind that the Four Corners state governments devote so little of their energy or water budgets to this. (CO and AZ have tiny R&D and demo projects, but not as focused on the water side as they should be.) And folks please remember that the Four Corners states are still burning lots of coal and gas for electricity, and new solar is mostly displacing that, and not just feeding Meta's data centers.
Interesting story at the Heated substack about a hip, homesteader-ish influencer with tens of thousands of Instagram likes (bots, me hopes) spreading anti-solar disinformation.
https://heated.world/p/the-influencer-teaching-millions
That's probably more than enough.
My understanding is that you can deduct up to $1K in '26 without itemizing. Still, the idea that you can't really deduct much for charitable contributions if you have a normal income is yet another example of how inequitable the system is.
Right. Farming electrons makes a lot more sense than alfalfa.
As always, Fred, so so much info every time!
Those maps are terrifying - the amount of water/wet loss in 3 years!
The idea of building the water-sucking, electricity scarfing data centers there makes no sense!
Altho in my opinion - building them anywhere lacks sense.
My great grandparents lived in Apache Junction, too! The land of grandparents!
Hey Jonathan. Congratulations on obtaining your non-profit status! (The tax status, not the low income those of us who don't exploit Mother Earth or our fellow humans accept.) B.T.W., Bandi X. Lee, M.D., who wrote The Dangerous case of Donald Trump, has an excellent piece on Substack this week on how revolutions need people to free themselves from the need for external wealth and focus on internal wealth. Gives some relevant history, esp. French and American Revolutions, a good read. Not that we should suffer, more the Buddhist concept of "right livelihood," Doing work that is a positive for the world and receiving enough compensation to have a decent life. Going on for a minute about Dr. Lee, she is a powerful voice on how much our current crisis is about psychology and the dangers of "leaders" who are Malignant Narcissists. My position, people like Trump have the same disgusting psychological attitude towards everything from young women to Mother Earth.
But back to why I'm writing, are you set up to accept donations of stock? That way, the contributor can deduct the current value of the stock and avoid capital gains tax. Needed info from you would be: Receiving Institution Account Number; Account Title/Registration; Contact Name at Charitable Organization or Name of Individual Recipient and telephone number; Name of Receiving Institution and DTC Number.
Jon, Good question! I'll ask our accountant. I'm sure we are, we'll just figure out the logistics. If you'd like to donate some stock, email me at jonathanthompson70@gmail.com or meet me in October at our favorite campsite!
Just fyi:
HELL YES!!! WAY OVERDUE 💦
The federal government released Colorado River water management plan today that protects Colorado from mandatory, aggressive water cuts, placing the heaviest conservation burdens on Lower Basin states while establishing a voluntary conservation target for Upper Basin states and establishes a flexible 10-year framework to address historic lows at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
While Lower Basin states (Arizona, California, and Nevada) face mandatory reductions of up to 3 million acre-feet annually, Colorado and other Upper Basin states are only asked to meet a "voluntary" conservation goal of up to 200,000 acre-feet across the entire Upper Basin.
Now the Lower Basin States including California will finally have to take action to conserve, capture and store their own water!
From Seth’s Weather Report FB