House Republicans Seek to End Taxpayer Funding for Green Energy on Farmland

House Republicans are taking action to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to incentivize "green energy boondoggles" on agricultural lands. They argue that such subsidies could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) is introducing legislation that would end federal funding for renewable subsidies for wind and solar development on agricultural lands. The bill, titled the Future Agriculture Retention and Management (FARM) Act, would not prevent developers from building wind turbines or solar panels, but rather end the use of federal funds to encourage such projects.

"Taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to sacrifice farmland for green energy boondoggles," Tiffany said in a statement. "The FARM Act ends corporate welfare for unreliable energy sources and ensures agricultural land is protected for future generations."

Renewable subsidies for clean energy projects, such as wind and solar, could cost taxpayers $424.6 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis by the Treasury Department. Tiffany introduced the FARM Act after hearing concerns from constituents who fear that too much farmland is being taken away for green energy projects.

If the bill is passed, Tiffany hopes that it will "protect family farms for generations to come, save American farmland, and safeguard long-term food security." He cites a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealing that in 2022, U.S. farmland was down 6.9% from 2017, suffering a total decline of 20.1 million acres.

This bill comes after the Biden administration pushed the use of federal funds to incentivize green energy projects, such as the USDA's Rural Energy for America Program. This program provided grant funding to agricultural producers for small and large wind and solar generation.