We should be deeply troubled by the efforts of Gov. Gordon and other insider politicians to jam through woke wind projects that violate so many of our core principles as Wyomingites.
Earlier this year, as a member of the State Board of Land Commissioners, and with my fiduciary duty to the state in mind, I was the lone “no” vote on two “Clean Wind” projects, the Pronghorn Project in Converse County, and the Sidewinder Project in Niobrara County.
The reasons for my no vote were numerous.
These projects are part of the radical Left’s outrageously wrong green energy agenda with net negative, boondoggle proposals dependent on subsidies and tax credits to stay afloat.
These left-wing projects lead to increasing electricity costs that make us poorer.
Look no further than the projects’ foreign financial backers, Germany-based Nordex and Spain-based Acciona, which seek to use the wind lease to produce synthetic jet fuel through an inefficient, water intensive, wasteful process.
Rather than using the lands for the benefit of the citizens of Wyoming, this absurd lease uses the lands so that woke billionaires like Soros can brag to their friends that they’re “green.”
As was admitted during the original meeting of the State Board of Land Commissioners, these projects are largely dependent on federal wind subsidies and tax carbon negative tax credits.
With the Trump Administration doing great work in stopping these left-wing subsidies, why on earth would Wyoming be hopping into bed with woke, ESG-based companies driven not by free market forces, but by the Green New Deal agenda.
Make no mistake. The attempts by Gov. Gordon and other insider politicians to fill our landscapes with these boondoggle wind fantasies will not achieve long-term growth in value for our state trust lands, as required by the Board’s fiduciary duty.
The testimony on this proposed project from Wyomingites has been overwhelmingly opposed.
There were also several weaknesses in the leases themselves. The leases allowed a foreign company to assign the rights of the lease to another entity, which is deeply disturbing.
The leases also violated the Board’s rules that require electricity generated on state lands to be used on the grid for the benefit of Wyomingites.
When I began to raise these concerns, Gov. Gordon announced that he wanted to go into secret Executive Session.
After the Board received advice in that secret Executive Session, the governor stated that we would not be allowed to hear from the other side and our valid legal concerns. With a huge decision like this on the line, this is not the way to do business in Wyoming.
Luckily, Wyoming citizen Mike Stephens decided to sue to challenge the leases.
And last week, in response to this lawsuit opposing the Pronghorn Project in Converse County, Wyoming District Court Judge F. Scott Peasley reversed the Board’s 4-1 decision, correctly pointing out the absurdity of the wind project itself, as evidenced by what the leases allowed.
Rather than generate energy for the grid, the lease allowed it to generate synthetic hydrogen jet fuel so George Soros and his friends can continue to gaslight us on their “net-negative carbon agenda,” in violation of the Board’s leasing rules.
Lo and behold, the opponents of this project were right to be skeptical about these leases, and Gordon was wrong once again.
With this reversal, the State Board of Land Commissioners faces a decision: whether to stand with the citizens of Wyoming by accepting last week’s correct ruling. On Thursday, December 18, the State Board of Land Commissioners will hold a special meeting to make this vote.
The State Board of Land Commissioners should take a clear stand for what is right and officially reject and defeat this proposed wind lease.
We know this proposed woke wind project is wrong for Wyoming. Now the State Board of Land Commissioners needs to do the right thing and reject the lease.
Chuck Gray was elected Wyoming Secretary of State in 2022. As Secretary of State, he is one of five members of the State Board of Land Commissioners. Prior to his election to statewide office, Gray served three terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives.
