Staff Reports
The federal government is really shaking things up in Pennsylvania by funneling a whopping $90 million into a massive solar project on land that was once used for mining. Yep, that’s right – the government is taking your hard-earned tax dollars and using them to support the solar energy industry. Can you believe it?
The project in Clearfield County is set to be the biggest solar project in the entire state, producing over 400 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power around 70,000 homes. But don’t start celebrating just yet – we all know that solar power just can’t compete with good old-fashioned coal.
Feds send $90M for largest Pennsylvania solar project yet | Just The News https://t.co/ZiPE3l087m
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) March 21, 2024
Matt Birchby, president of Swift Current Energy, seems to be pretty excited about all this. His company, Mineral Basin Solar Power, snagged the $90 million from the Department of Energy and is promising to throw $200,000 a year into community funds for Clearfield County. How generous of him, right? But let’s not forget that this money could be better spent elsewhere.
The Department of Energy is touting this project as a great way to fill the gap left by the closure of the Homer City coal plant. They claim it will create over 750 construction jobs and six operations jobs, as well as provide $1.1 million in annual tax revenue to the townships and school district. But let’s be real – these so-called “green jobs” just don’t stack up to the good-paying jobs provided by the coal industry.
And get this – the federal government is throwing money at four other similar projects on former mine lands, to the tune of $475 million. That’s a whole lot of taxpayer dollars being thrown around. Bell County, Kentucky, and Nicholas County, West Virginia are also getting some of the cash for their own energy projects. It seems like the government is more interested in appeasing the environmentalists than supporting hardworking Americans.
The Department of Energy is trying to spin this as a smart move, saying that developing clean energy projects on mine land is a better economic alternative than using natural or agricultural land. But let’s not forget that these former mine lands could be used for other important projects, like, oh, I don’t know, mining. The government is putting the interests of tree-huggers ahead of the needs of the American people, and that’s just not right.
The real kicker here is that the federal government claims these projects will create jobs and benefit the local communities. We’ve heard this song and dance before, though. Remember that $4 million program to retrain out-of-work coal miners? Yeah, it didn’t go anywhere. The government has a history of promising big things and delivering nothing. We can’t trust them to follow through on their lofty promises.
And now they’re trying to tell us that this time, things will be different. They say they’re requiring groups that receive federal money to lay out a community benefits plan. But let’s be honest – we’ve heard it all before. The only thing the government is good at is wasting our money and making empty promises.
So, Pennsylvania, hold on to your hats. The federal government is swooping in with all its green energy propaganda, and they’re using your tax dollars to do it. It’s time to stand up for what’s right and demand that our government put the needs of hardworking Americans first.
