BLM’s Western Solar Plan is ‘fantasy world,’ relies heavily on taxpayer dollars: GOP congressman
The Bureau of Land Management’s updated Western Solar Plan, which aims to restrict 31 million acres of land across 11 states for the development of solar fields, is an "absolutely ridiculous" proposal from the Biden-Harris administration that would cost taxpayers more for unreliable energy, a Republican congressman told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said the agency’s plan will lock up 572,479 acres of public land in Montana alone for solar development, creating a "multitude of problems" for wildlife, the environment and the livelihood of citizens in the Treasure State.
"BLM Secretary [Deb] Haaland and Director Tracy Stone-Manning are living in this fantasy world where they think that we are going to be done with coal-powered electricity and natural gas powered electricity," Rosendale said. "We're going to be utilizing those sources for decades, for decades, because they're reliable, they're affordable, they're readily available. They don't need to be subsidized by the American taxpayers. And that is where we need to be focused."
Rosendale said he is concerned that the Western Solar Plan violates the Taylor Grazing Act, which regulates grazing on public lands, and will produce intermittent energy in places where it will still need to be transmitted hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of miles before it can be used.
"It is not a consistent, reliable, affordable source of energy," the congressman said of solar energy.
"You're paying more for your energy that's being produced from these sources and you're being taxed heavier because of trying to subsidize it, make it work," he said.
BLM announced its updated solar plan in August, identifying 31 million acres for potential solar development in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The agency said the updated plan will avoid protected lands, sensitive cultural resources and important wildlife habitats.
A BLM spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the proposed plan "supports national climate and energy goals while ensuring that public lands continue to serve many needs."
"The proposed plan guides applications for solar development to areas that are already disturbed, are near transmission lines, or have lower environmental sensitivities," the agency said. "It excludes solar development in certain sensitive ecosystems, wildlife habitats and culturally significant sites."
"Every day, the BLM balances uses on the landscape, from producing energy to grazing to mining to recreation to conserving wildlife habitat and clean water," the agency continued.
BLM emphasized that the proposed plan doesn't allow solar development in areas important to big game and away from habitats for threatened and endangered species.
When Fox News Digital reached out to the National Audubon Society, an environmental group that has provided input to BLM on the potential environmental impact of such potential solar development, a spokesperson for the group responded with a press release that was issued in August shortly after BLM announced its updated plan.
"The BLM’s revised Western Solar Plan improves on the initial draft and strikes a clearer balance between solar energy development and wildlife conservation," Garry George, senior director of climate strategy at the National Audubon Society, wrote in the release. "We look forward to further reviewing the document, and the Greater sage-grouse plans once finalized, to provide more input to BLM."
Rosendale, however, said that he believes BLM needs to change their plan entirely.
"I think we need to allow the evolution of business to develop more effective, more efficient, more reliable ways of generating that energy," he said.
"We will be utilizing coal and natural gas for decades coming into the future," Rosendale said. "And while it's a nice idea to start looking at alternative means of energy production, to place mandates on the power companies to have to purchase this type of energy and to put mandates on the land that it can only be used for this when the law currently says that we should be placing food production on those acres at the top of the priority list. It's not just wrong, it's against the law."
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Other lawmakers in western states have also expressed concern over BLM’s plan for solar development.
U.S. Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Steve Daines, R-Mont. and Mike Lee, R-Utah, all opposed the updated Western Solar Plan over worries it could disrupt grazing, mineral development and recreation.
"[W]e remain concerned that these are lands that many already stake their livelihoods on through other multiple uses," the senators wrote in a letter to Stone-Manning. "Some uses, such as grazing, are not just disrupted, but wholly shut out of public land as solar becomes more prevalent."
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who is also chairman of the Western Caucus, and Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., sent Stone-Manning a separate letter requesting the agency withdraw its proposed updated Western Solar Plan over concerns about grazing and unreliable energy.
"This plan risks violating the multiple-use mandate for public lands established by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and threatens valuable grazing lands while also elevating intermittent energy over more affordable and reliable sources," Newhouse wrote.
Hageman argued that such a plan would "upend existing activities that drive America’s energy independence" and weaken America’s energy grid through "unreliable energy sources."
"The Biden-Harris assault on our Western way of life needs to be brought to a swift end this November, before they can inflict even more damage," the congresswoman wrote.