Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY), joined by Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and nine additional Congressional colleagues, is sending a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning on the Biden-Harris administration’s so-called “Western Solar Plan.”
On August 29th of this year, the BLM announced its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and corresponding Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for its Western Solar Plan. Through this plan, the Biden-Harris Administration is artificially propping up the renewable energy industry by subsidizing energy sources that cannot compete in a free market.
Representative Hageman says, “The BLM’s “Western Solar Plan” will adversely impact 31 million acres of federal lands across 11 states and upend existing activities that drive America’s energy independence, thus weakening the resilience of the American energy grid and propping up unreliable energy sources, while simultaneously stripping local communities of important revenue-generating activities. This proposal will severely impact Wyoming, as half of our state’s surface lands are federally managed.
“The “Plan” blocks off large swaths of lands for the installation of environmentally unfriendly solar panels, eliminating the ability to graze, mine, or produce fossil fuels – all the things that America needs to drive down costs of energy, food, and housing. 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 proposed Western Solar Plan is another Biden-Harris Administration policy that is detrimental to communities across the West,” said Chairman Newhouse. “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. I’m proud to join Representative Hageman and my colleagues in asking BLM to withdraw this misguided proposal and prioritize an all of the above energy approach to unleash the full energy potential of the American west.”
