The Lava Ridge Wind project in Idaho has been a thorn in Idaho's sides locally for quite some time. Last June, I told you all about how the Bureau of Land Management had, once the developer's plans were approved, closed the required 90-day public comment period with a 'thank you all for your input.' The BLM pinkie swore to seriously consider every single one of the 11,000 or so comments submitted.
...As these things go, there were quite a few reasonable objections to Lava Ridge's construction besides its being big, ugly, and a waste.
For one thing, the proposal snugged behemoth wind turbines damn near right up against the property line of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome, Idaho. The caretakers of that place are horrified by the intrusion.
Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome, Idaho, tells the painful stories of the unconstitutional forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Minidoka is a place to heal deep emotional trauma, educate the public about racial injustice, and commemorate our ancestors. When visiting the site, visitors experience a sense of isolation and remoteness due to the sweeping vistas of surrounding lands and distant mountains...
The state of Idaho didn't help matters by suddenly dropping a water curtailment order on the very location where the development was planned because the wind farm was going to require copious amounts (estimated 126+M gal over the 34-yr life of the project) of the precious and all-too-rare fluid that area farmers were now going to be denied.
...In fact, at the end of May and only a week before the BLM announced their decision, the state of Idaho announced a water curtailment plan for that very Magic Valley region among 5 other districts. The state was literally going to shut the water off if those offending districts didn't come up to snuff on their water mitigation plans in two weeks' time.
Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Mathew Weaver issued a curtailment order Thursday afternoon that requires 6,400 junior groundwater rights holders who pump off the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer to shut off their water...
Where there might have been boosters scattered among locals before, by the time fall rolled around, you were hard-pressed to find anyone in favor of the project, including most of the elected officials.
...From scarce groundwater to despoiling sage grouse habitat and murdering raptors, desecration of sacred sites, or potentially impacting an aquifer that runs all the way to the Yellowstone, people were pretty much united against the project.
...“You could be far right, far left, in the middle, if you live here, and you're in the Magic Valley, southern Idaho," Matsuoka Keegan said. "It’s brought those people together. I haven't talked to anybody that is in favor of it.”
And that was before they found out the New York-based LLC's wind turbines wouldn't even be benefiting their electrical bills.
Any power that Lava Ridge wind turbines generated? Would be going to CALIFORNIA.
The developer made some towers shorter, moved some stuff around, and promised to share a little of that juice with the local yokels, so BLM said, "Looks good. Build it."
By September, the mad rush by the BLM and the developer to get the thing moving had run afoul of the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, thanks to the dogged efforts of the Minidoka Historic SIte trustees, bolstered by a letter to the Council from the entire Idaho delegation.
Frustrating as it is for the BLM, by statute, they are required to work with the NACHP on any project that impacts a historic site. The NACHP put the hammer down two days after receiving the Idaho officials' letter, terminating their agreement to work with the BLM as they no longer could be assured the project wouldn't cause harm to the Minndoka site.
This had the effect of halting the project, as the BLM, even though it could go ahead on its own, would now have to justify doing so without the NACHP's blessing.
No problem for the Biden administration. 'Going ahead' was their thing and rules were meant for other people.
The Lava Ridge project was formally approved this December after some more cosmetic tweaking.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today approved the Lava Ridge Wind Project northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho, which could power as many as 500,000 homes with clean energy, while creating hundreds of jobs and supporting local and regional economies. The project footprint reduces the area disturbed from the initial proposal by half, decreases the number of turbines from 400 to 241 (231 on BLM-managed lands and 10 on lands managed by the State of Idaho) and imposes a maximum height limit of 660 feet for turbines, consistent with extensive public and community feedback regarding the protection of sensitive natural and cultural resources.
The BLM's decision authorizes 231 wind turbines and related infrastructure, which are expected to disturb 992 acres within a 38,535-acre area of BLM-managed public lands in Jerome, Lincoln, and Minidoka counties. The project approval reflects a careful balance of clean energy development with the protection of natural, cultural, and socioeconomic resources on this historically significant landscape. The record of decision directs required mitigation measures to protect these values and defers future development proposals on over 212,000 acres in the area until the adequacy of the mitigation measures is assessed by the Bureau.
...As part of the process, the BLM responded to a nomination for protection of the landscape’s importance to the Minidoka National Historic Site by enacting interim measures to limit additional development and protect cultural resources found in the former Minidoka War Relocation Center on approximately 15,000 acres of public lands. The interim measures will stay in place until the area is further considered for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern during a formal planning process.
SEE? WE SORTA FIXED IT! SHUT UP, ALREADY
The folks fighting this thing in Idaho, on the other hand, weren't taking it so meekly. Besides, they were well aware of why the Biden administration was shoving this down their throats - a feverish run of last-minute hail Marys to get all their pet Green grifting projects approved come hell or high water before Trump was sworn in.
..."This Administration continues to disregard the valid concerns of Idahoans, farmers, ranchers, sportsmen and Minidoka survivors and descendants regarding the Lava Ridge project," said Senator Crapo. "It is par for the course for the Biden Administration to issue a late Friday decision dump after Americans decisively rejected the course of this administration in the recent election. I look forward to engaging with the incoming Trump Administration to have this project reviewed thoughtfully and thoroughly for a just and appropriate product that reflects the overwhelming will of Idaho's citizenry."
Attorney General Raúl Labrador added, "Idaho has spoken very clearly in opposition to this project. The Lava Ridge project is a jewel in the Biden Administration's Green New Deal crown and the Administration is moving ahead regardless of the damage to Idaho farms, ranches, rural communities, agricultural aviation, water supplies, wildlife, and historical sites. We will keep fighting this attempt to blatantly ignore the voice of Idahoans."
Idaho's persistence, determined resistance, and faith...
Biden’s Green New Deal is trying to saddle Idaho with 241 windmills on 100,000 acres. Luckily, Idaho has @realDonaldTrump and @DougBurgum on our side! Lava Ridge is living on borrowed time. pic.twitter.com/19BywhgqLm
— Jim Risch (@SenatorRisch) January 17, 2025
...paid off last night.
He has directed the Interior Secretary to temporarily pause activities under the Record of Decision issued by the BLM last month. This includes "any rights-of-way or rights of development or operation of any projects contemplated in the ROD." 2/5
— Heather Lauer (@HeatherLauer) January 21, 2025
The U.S. Attorney General may request courts to pause or delay litigation or seek other relief until reviews and actions under this order are completed. 4/5
— Heather Lauer (@HeatherLauer) January 21, 2025
Trump even went further than Idaho - he suspended ALL wind energy permits 'pending further review.'
ALL OF THEM
The industry headline makes me smile.
Trump Orders End to All Wind Energy Permits
The worst case scenario for the wind industry is here.
President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to stop all permits for wind energy projects.
Trump on Monday evening issued a sweeping executive order that the government “shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects” pending what the order describes as a “comprehensive assessment” of the industry’s myriad impacts on the economy, environment and other factors.
This affects all offshore wind development in the U.S., because all of that takes place in the Outer Continental Shelf, an ocean expanse under federal control that is leased for all kinds of energy production.
It also impacts wind projects on federal lands. Although the extent of the impact to onshore wind is unclear because some wind projects are on state lands, project developers often must get approvals under federal environmental and species protection laws, so an end to permits will be quite painful for the sector.
The new order also withdrew all waters in the Outer Continental Shelf from access to wind leasing and launched a new Interior Department review of existing wind energy leases that will identify “any legal basis” for termination or amendment based on “ecological, economic, and environmental necessity.” This opens the door to offshore wind developers potentially losing their leases.
Additionally, the order specifically bans wind energy development at the site sought after for the Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho. Lava Ridge has been contentious because of its vicinity to a historic internment camp where Japanese Americans were forced to live during World War II. The project was fully permitted days before the end of Biden’s term. But in spite of those approvals, critics of the project close to the project insisted Trump would act on his own to kill it.
It's so funny how the article is butthurt over how the (days before XPOTATUS left) 'fully permitted' Lava Ridge was 'in spite of those approvals' squashed while sort of sliding right over the skullduggery circumstances of that permitting job.
There are a lot of happy people right now who feel as if a boot has been lifted off their necks for at least a little while.
Trump Signs Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects
— ☕ Wαƙҽ Uρ NJ 🇺🇸 (@wakeupnj) January 21, 2025
This is fantastic news 👏 https://t.co/BXuWwgvV9a pic.twitter.com/VZFF6HY5xN
Hopefully, for good.
Speaking of 'good,' a certain new president has been as good as his word.
What a difference a day makes.
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