Government Clown Can't Tell Solar Panels From Buildings

The article criticizes Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins for blaming solar panels for the rapid loss of U.S. farmland, particularly in Tennessee, where she announced restrictions on USDA loans for solar and wind projects to protect agricultural land. While farmland is indeed disappearing at an alarming rate—Tennessee alone has lost over 1.2 million acres in 30 years—the article argues that the primary cause is urban and suburban sprawl, including real estate development, not solar energy installations. The USDA’s claim that a 50% increase in solar panels on farmland since 2012 justifies these restrictions is challenged as misleading, since the absolute land area occupied by solar arrays remains very small. Research from the University of Tennessee supports this perspective, showing that as of 2023, utility-scale solar projects occupy only about 8,200 to 14,700 acres statewide, producing 1.474 gigawatts of energy. Even with an ambitious goal of adding 10 gigawatts of solar capacity