The proposal to build a 400-turbine wind-generating facility in the Magic Valley has been met with almost unanimous opposition from local residents—I have yet to talk to one Magic Valley resident who supports it. This comes as no surprise. The Biden Administration continues to push its renewable fuels agenda despite projects like these having numerous concerns. Biden’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs to take a major step back on the Lava Ridge Wind proposal and listen to the Idahoans who would be most significantly impacted by it.
Critics of this project—and there are many—have cited numerous concerns about the Lava Ridge proposal. Filling the landscape with hundreds of 600-foot-tall wind turbines would significantly impact all other land uses. It could compromise the ability to use aircraft for fire suppression in an area prone to wildfires. It could threaten long-standing efforts to recover sage-grouse habitat and prevent efforts to keep the sage-grouse off the Endangered Species Act, efforts in which Idaho has been a leader for a decade and a half. It could upset the integrated resource plans of Idaho utilities and hurt existing electricity customers. And it would undoubtedly dramatically impact the Minidoka National Historic Site. Affected farmers, tribes, sportsmen, conservationists, the Japanese-American community, and others have all expressed their opposition to this plan.
In choosing to prioritize renewable wind power over all other legitimate uses of this land, the BLM seems intent on changing the long-standing approach of managing public land for a variety of uses. For Idahoans, the concept of multiple-use land management is highly valued and deeply rooted in our way of life. It requires conservation, predictability of use, and support from local communities—all things threatened by a proposal to close off hundreds of square miles of public land to one specific use with very little if any, local support.
Because of my concern about BLM’s failure to adequately engage those most affected by this project, I have taken significant actions to prevent the Biden Administration from rushing ahead with the proposal. I have used my position as Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the BLM, to shed light on the myriad concerns about this proposal. This past spring, I questioned both BLM Director Stone-Manning and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland directly about Lava Ridge during the FY24 budget hearings. In my questioning, I highlighted ongoing concerns, including the project’s lack of public support and the fact that this project would prioritize renewable energy development over all other land uses.
In order to force the BLM to slow down and acknowledge the concerns of the impacted communities, I included language in the FY24 House Interior and Environment Appropriations bill prohibiting funding to be used for such wind energy projects in Idaho until the U.S. Government Accountability Office – an independent, nonpartisan government agency – completes a report identifying the potential adverse effects of the project on wildlife, cultural resources, transportation, hunting, and other legitimate land uses.
Together with Senators Crapo and Risch, Governor Little, and Lieutenant Governor Bedke, earlier this year, I communicated my deep concerns to the Idaho BLM about this project and asked the state office to refocus its process to work with local communities and address their legitimate objections. I also requested that BLM extend the comment period for the Lava Ridge draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to address stakeholder concerns over the proposal, a request that was granted.
The Biden Administration must be held accountable. It cannot continue to unilaterally ram through renewable energy projects with no local support, and with no forethought for their impact on other important land uses. I expect the BLM to listen to the concerns of Idahoans directly affected by the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project and give those concerns considerable weight as the public comment period continues. So far, this project has proven to be out of touch with Idaho values, and you can be confident that I stand with the Magic Valley in opposing it.
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Since we blew up the Russian pipeline and the
Europeans realized that they will be paying exorbitant prices for US natural gas.....a lot of
Them have resorted to burning coal to heat their homes.....the democrats screw up everything they touch.
"And they're saying the noise (from wind turbines) causes cancer."- Donald "Stable Genius" Trump
And the whales!! Does nobody care that windmills drive whales to suicide??
Driving democrats to suicide would be better....
Save the whales........all except red in blue.
Ha Good one!!
So I was right......you're a bed ridden 500 pound
Whale with your life partner feeding you buckets of KFC and dumping your excrement filled bed pan. What a loser.
Idahoans have noticed that with all the wind farms spoiling the view in Idaho.....our electricity
Rates have gone up. Was that supposed to happen?
I don't know. Have Wyomingans notice that with all the oil rigs spoiling the view in Wyoming ...... their fuel is not free? Was that supposed to happen?
When you burn heating oil or propane or natural gas or coal to heat your home....you really should not be bashing fossil fuels. Oh that's right.....you
Environmental kooks have the audacity to burn trees.
My home is heated and cooled with electricity which is generated down the road by wind turbans.
Ya I've seen those.....usually not moving. Those
Are subsidized by your high electric rates. With
The river right there.......how much sense do all
Those windmills make? I think they've been up
About 20 years now.....time to replace them.
Maybe they can dump the old ones in your yard.
If you were really on your game you would complain about those horrible dams too. We would be better off with a coal fire plant.. right?
And you didn't even catch 'turbans'! Ha ha didn't think you would. I should have tried damns or maybe dames too.
I don't make it a habit to correct retards.
Way to cover for your obvious retardation. Yes
Coal is cheap......nuclear is expensive to build but
Cheaper in the long term and better for the environment. We already have 90% of this nation's nuclear waste in Idaho, and a lot from
Foreign countries that we don't want to be made into dirty bombs.......it's ridiculous that we don't have nuclear power plants. They can even put one in my back yard if I can have free electricity.
"A typical reactor will generate 20 to 30 tons of high-level nuclear waste annually. There is no known way to safely dispose of this waste, which remains dangerously radioactive for a quarter of a million years."
These decisions are above your pay grade..... in this case about six feet.
You are obviously too dense to understand my point......should I say....it...more.......slowly? Idaho
Already has pretty much all of this nation's Nuclear waste......shouldn't we actually benefit
The state with cheap electricity? Yucca Mountain Yucca Mountain, Yucca Mountain.....nuclear waste repository.........to date they haven't moved
Any of the nuclear waste from Idaho. I think they
Did some sneaky ch-it with that and it probably holds luxury housing for the elites in case of a nuclear war. I bet Bama has already decorated.
Idaho has nowhere near 90% of the country's nuclear waste, Ewe-Gene.
You just talk to hear your head rattle, like your man-crush, Trump.
Stick to things you know, like sweeping floors.
Are you stupid enough to think that a nuclear reactor generates power by using nuclear waste?? Jesus,Ewe-Gene. You get the Blue Ribbon.
His......point.......was..........that he knows the...........value......of
Nuclear waste......better than the .........accountants........... that
Valued it for the state
And we........would do well......
.....To stop complaining and
Accept a present for.......It/////
That stat was from 30 years ago.....if you have a recent one then post it. But 30 years ago the state of Idaho stored 90% of this nation's nuclear waste. If that stat is wrong.....blame Time magazine. I can't imagine it being much different
Now with Idaho still receiving shipments. And since you are both retarded and I have to walk you through everything......as long as we are a
Nuclear waste dumping ground for the world
Shouldn't we at least be taking advantage of
Nuclear power and encourage the construction
Of nuclear power plants here? A lot of us get our electricity from Utah and it's a shame that Idaho
Power is not investing in nuclear and not expanding their grid to provide electricity for
Everyone in Idaho.
https://www.cnet.com/pictures/how-much-nuclear-waste-is-in-your-state/
It's okay you're on an acid flashback. Look at the pretty pictures.
Ewe-Gene.............likes ..... him.....some..................ellipsis........points.......
They.......indicate,,,,,,,,,,,,,an......incomplete.......thought..........
Something .......Ewe-Gene........is.......known.......for..........
Miraculously all the nuclear waste that has been stored in Idaho for decades is unaccounted for. So they no longer have to address it. Sure they count the recent deliveries.....but all that waste
From decades ago that they were supposed to eventually move......is nevermore. Don't worry...
It will show up in the IF water system. They should bottle that water and send some to Israel.
And you two need a lifetime supply. Atomic City Springs has a nice ring to it.
So liking the windmills better then? You're coming around.
Or, if you're already drinking and shooting dope you might as well up drive too?
Ewe-Gene hates nuclear waste, but wants a nuke in his backyard.
You can't fix stupid, but you can identify it by the red hats.
I don't want nuclear waste from other states and
Other countries in Idaho when we never benefited from that cheap electricity. You two really have a reading comprehension problem.
It's like your neighbor raising cows and eating
Steak every day, but dumping the cow ch-it in
Your yard. Do you two rubes get it now?
Then you'll be glad to hear that "Respected thinkers such as former U.S. president Barack Obama, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates have toasted the idea of small modular reactors, or SMRs, as a potentially reliable, almost-emissions-free backup to intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Advocates claim that because SMRs will be smaller than the giants that currently dominate horizons, they will be safer, cheaper, and quicker to build."
And
"U.S. President Joe Biden included billions of dollars in tax credits for nuclear energy in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act". So there jack a z z.
Respected thinkers? Even a tard like you gets it right once in a blue moon.
Ewe-Gene's idea of "respected thinkers" are people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Louie Gohmert, and of course the cognitive test passing rapist.
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