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hunter

(40,056 posts)
Fri Oct 10, 2025, 04:42 PM Friday

Trump administration accidentally does something good.

Trump officials cancel major solar project in latest hit to renewable energy

The Trump administration has killed a huge proposed solar power project in Nevada that would have been one of the largest in the world, indicating that the White House plans to attack not only wind power but all renewable energy.

On Thursday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) changed the status of the Esmeralda 7 project to say its environmental review has been “cancelled”, the climate publication Heatmap first reported.

The super project in southern Nevada was set to cover 185 sq miles – a footprint close to the size of Las Vegas – and include seven solar projects proposed by different companies, including NextEra Energy Resources, Leeward Renewable Energy, Arevia Power and Invenergy. Together, the network of solar panels and batteries was set to produce 6.2 gigawatts of energy, enough to power nearly 2m homes.

-- more --

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-officials-drop-major-solar-power-project-in-another-renewable-energy-attack


Destroying previously undeveloped lands for solar power does not make the world a better place.

The Esmeralda/Fish Lake ACEC is 850,000 of intact landscape with stunning geological formations, incredible wildlife habitat untouched by humans, and a plethora of cultural sites. This area is threatened by the Esmeralda 7, a sprawling and ill-conceived green energy project. The area where the massive Esmeralda 7 industrial solar complex would go has not had a land use plan completed in over 25 years. Additionally, there is a BLM-designated solar energy zone nearby that already has a substation and existing infrastructure. However, instead of using the existing site, the BLM is proposing construction of a brand new parallel powerline in addition to this industrial solar complex in a totally undeveloped and beautiful part of our public lands.

https://www.nevadawilderness.org/speak_up_against_the_sprawling_esmeralda_7_solar_project


There is plenty of room for solar projects on land that has already been trashed by humans -- rooftops, parking lots, silage fields abandoned for lack of water, etc. Furthermore, these places are usually nearer the places where the electricity will be used, reducing the need to build ugly new power lines and other environmentally destructive infrastructure.

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