Most in Idaho approve of this
EXCLUSIVE: Trump admin nixes giant wind farm approved ‘last-minute’ by Biden team
President Donald Trump’s Interior Department is canceling what would have been one of the largest land-based wind farms in the United States after former President Joe Biden’s “last-minute” push to approve the project during his final weeks in office.
The Lava Ridge Wind Project, approved in December 2024 by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management, was expected to be a 1,000-megawatt wind farm with up to 231 wind turbines across nearly 57,447 acres in southern Idaho.
Following a review of the project by the Trump administration, officials at the Interior Department claimed to find “crucial legal deficiencies” with Biden’s approval of the project, including certain statutorily binding criteria that were ignored, according to a press release announcing the decision to terminate the wind farm project.
“Under President Donald Trump’s bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “By reversing the Biden administration’s thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation.”
There are lots of issues with Lava Ridge, like that the Biden administration did not adequately engage with stakeholders, including local residents, farmers, ranchers, and tribal nations, in the approval process and legal deficiencies in the Biden administration’s approval process. Oh, and
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador previously accused the Biden administration of not adequately reviewing the wind farm’s potential risk to low-flying aircraft. According to Labrador, Federal Aviation Administration rules dictate that any structure over 200-feet tall must be evaluated for low-level flight hazards.
Labrador has also asserted that the Lava Ridge project would have mainly shipped generated power to California, as opposed to Idaho.
These wind turbines stand about 660 feet, and are in view of Minidoka National Historic Site, a site of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, which has upset many people. Now it can go away.
Translation: after some of his minions pushed through as many projects as they could while our 46th President was mumbling his way through his Frosted Flakes.
Presidential ‘aides’ do a lot of work in any White House, but realistically speaking, virtually anything which came out of the White House over the last two years of Mr Biden’s miserable four years ought to be subject to question. How much did President Biden really know about what was being done in his name?