Real Estate Paralegal

Pomona College students study energy transition in the field. Story Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2026 Claremont Colleges students and faculty participating in the Energy Field Study tour the Gonzaga Ridge Wind Farm in January 2026. Before the start of the spring semester, students, faculty and staff from Pomona College and other Claremont Colleges were learning in new ways - wearing hard hats at the natural-gas fired Harbor Generating Station in the Port of Los Angeles; driving through Carrizo Plain National Monument to view a 500-megawatt solar facility; and touring the Diablo Canyon Nuclear facility, the only operating nuclear plant in the state. The students represented a variety of majors and were participating in an Energy Field Study designed to consider the challenges California faces in reaching its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. Led by Professor of Politics Heather L. Williams, Tom McHenry, visiting professor of environmental analysis, and Marc Los Huertos, the Stephen M. Pauley M.D. '62 Professor of Environmental Analysis, the field study was an example of the short-term, intensive study-away programs that the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) will support. Another hallmark of the CGE will be bringing experts from a variety of fields together to work on a complex problem. Williams says the site visits and discussions with experts on the ground during the Energy Field Study were combined with classroom learning about the regulatory, financial and technical aspects of the massive changes needed to reach California's ambitious goals. "It was really fascinating to take students into a plant and let them see and discuss and have conversations, and really hear them talking about what's going to be their future," Williams says. "The idea was to take us out of the normal format of classes - we took away the pressure of grading and the idea of the professor as the only authority and said, 'Let's learn together.'" As part of the mutual learning environment, students prepared their own brief talks on energy sustainability issues and presented them to the group throughout the week. Jaden Yang '28, a physics and politics double major, delivered a talk on the potential impact of AI on energy and water use. Yang says experiencing professors as learners as well as teachers was inspiring. "What I really appreciated about this trip was that it allowed students and professors to learn together," Yang says. "The conversations that we had brought together the more informed views of professors with the unique experience of each student, which provided a diverse lens for everything we learned." Milo Slevin '28, who plans to major in environmental analysis and politics, also valued the opportunity to learn side-by-side with faculty. "We had a wide variety of faculty expertise on the trip, and many of those people were learning these things for the first time alongside students," he says. "To go through that process with the knowledge and curiosity of faculty made this a unique experience." The trip was funded with generous support from Michael Rucker '90 and Karen Lyon Gibbs '91, a married couple who met at Pomona. Rucker, founder and CEO of Scout Clean Energy, provided a day-long tour and seminar with his team at the Gonzaga Ridge Wind Farm in Pacheco State Park. Scout Clean Energy purchased the turbine array from its original owners and has redeveloped it so when the facility comes online it will provide 147.5 MW of power - seven times what the original wind farm produced - with the capability to store 50MW of power for four hours. Yang says that the program also enabled them to think differently about how their career path could include energy sustainability. "It has definitely made me more aware of factors I should be considering in my future studies and career plans," they say. "This was great as a sampler of various different ways to get involved in renewable energy, and I have a better idea now of what I want or might not want to do in the future." To learn more about the Center for Global Engagement and its role in advancing Pomona's global initiatives, visit the CGE website.

Scout starts 150MW Ottawa battery project. Scout Clean Energy has begun construction of the 150MW Trail Road lithium iron phosphate battery energy storage system in Ottawa, Ontario. The project is being developed as a joint venture with Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and is expected to be completed in 2027. Scout is a portfolio... Exclusive subscriber content... Not yet a subscriber? Join us today to continue accessing content without any restrictions Or to request access to Proximo Intelligence contact us

Farmers see Horse Heaven wind and solar project as ag's salvation. Published 11:22 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026 Windmills turn in Central Washington. Lease payments from the Horse Heaven wind and solar project in southeast Washington will help dryland wheat farmers survive lean years, according to farmers and landowners. (Don Jenkins/Capital Press) Horse Heaven Hills farmers dispute claims that Scout Clean Energy's massive wind and solar project in southeast Washington will wreck agriculture, pointing to lease payments as agriculture's salvation. Some 19 farmers and landowners submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Washington Supreme Court defending Scout's plans to put windmills, solar panels and batteries on farmland near the Tri-Cities. Benton County argues ex-Gov. Jay Inslee and the Energy Facility Site Evaulation Council dismissed the county's concerns about losing 6,869 acres of farmland. Dryland wheat farmers who signed the brief said lease payments will help them buy equipment, hire more people and invest in new technology. "As a result, the project will support retention of these lands for agricultural purposes and avoid the need to sell off land to other parties and uses," the brief reads. The farmers and landowners filed the brief in advance of the Supreme Court's hearing June 11. The county. the Yakama Nation and Tri-Cities CARES, a citizens group, allege Inslee and EFSEC violated state laws in approving the project. Scout, based in Colorado and owned by Brookfield Renewable Partners, a Canadian company, has leased property from 42 landowners and plans to install up to 222 windmills and cover about 5,500 acres with solar panels. Residential development poses more of a threat to agriculture on Horse Heaven Hills than do windmills, solar panels and batteries, according to the farmers' brief. The hills receive little rain, so farmers are limited in what they can grow, according to the brief. With input costs rising and wheat prices not keeping up, lease payments will help farmers survive lean years, the brief states. "These are not hobby farms - those farming the Horse Heaven Hills live or die on the margins of a crop yield," the brief reads. "It (Scout's project) will neither disrupt agricultural practices nor result in the long-term conversion of agricultural land; in fact, it will do just the opposite." The county argues the conversion of farmland would violate county land-use laws and the state's Growth Management Act. The Yakama Nation and Tri-City CARES raised objections unrelated to losing farmland. The tribe argues the project will damage traditional gathering places and cultural resources. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians submitted a brief supporting the Yakama Nation's position. The affiliation represents 57 tribal governments in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, California and Montana. Tri-Cities CARES claims Inslee and EFSEC failed to balance the need for energy with other public and private interests. The plaintiffs also allege procedural errors, such as EFSEC's decision to hold formal hearings on the project before staff planners had finished a final report on the project's environmental impacts. If built, the 1,150-megawatt project will be the largest wind and solar project in Washington, with windmills stretching for 24 miles. Scout has not disclosed the terms of lease payments to landowners. A study commissioned by the state Department of Commerce in 2024 found leasing land for wind and solar projects can be significantly more profitable than farming in some areas.