The US Department of Agriculture Bans Support for Renewables

Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that it will stop funding wind and solar energy on American farmland, a move that continues the Trump administration’s attempts to kill incentives for renewables while it boosts support for fossil fuels and land-hungry, energy inefficient biofuels. At the state fairgrounds in Lebanon, Tennessee, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that the agency will no longer allow “businesses to use your taxpayer dollars to fund solar projects on prime American farmland, and we will no longer allow solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in our USDA-funded projects.” The move is part of a broader effort by the administration to revoke or reduce Biden-era funding for the expansion of wind and solar through the Inflation Reduction Act, much of which benefited farmers and agricultural areas. In July, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, slashing incentives for wind and solar while boosting support for biofuels, which consume the majority of the country’s cropland. The bill also restricts the use of Chinese-made solar components, a directive echoed in Rollins’ comments this week. The USDA formally announced the wind and solar funding cuts on Tuesday. It did not respond to specific questions from Inside Climate News. The agency and lawmakers supporting the move said their primary concern was safeguarding the country’s farmland and food. “Secretary Rollins understands that food security is national security, and preserving prime farmland for agricultural production is a key component of protecting our food supply,” said Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Penn.), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, in a statement. More than half the country’s cropland—178 million out of 328 million crop acres—is used to grow corn and soybeans, much of it for biofuels, not food. About one-third of the acres planted in corn are used for corn-based ethanol, which amounts to about 4 perc...