Republicans seek to end taxpayer funding of 'green energy boondoggles' on agricultural lands

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are seeking to prevent the use of taxpayer dollars to incentivize what they describe as "green energy boondoggles" on agricultural lands, citing subsidies that could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., is introducing legislation on Thursday, shared first with Fox News Digital, to end federal funding of 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 told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The FARM Act ends corporate welfare for unreliable energy sources and ensures agricultural land is protected for future generations."

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Rep. Tom Tiffany introduced the Future Agriculture Retention and Management Act, shared first with Fox News Digital. (Fox News Digital)

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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 for 2024-2033, cited by the Republican congressman in a press release.

The congressman said he introduced the FARM Act after hearing concerns from his constituents who "fear too much farmland is being taken away" amid the push for more green energy projects. 

Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wisc., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

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," citing 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.

Lawmakers cosponsoring the legislation include Reps. Ben Cline, R-Va., Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Roger Williams, R-Texas.

Wind and solar panels merge in a desert alternative energy site in Mojave, California. (Visions of America/Joe Sohm)

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The 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, which provided grant funding to agricultural producers for small and large wind and solar generation.