Michigan to Clear 400 Acres of Forest to Build Chinese-Made Solar Panel Farm That Will Occasionally Generate Electricity
Republican Michigan lawmakers are outraged at the state’s Department of Natural Resources over its plans to chop down over 400 acres of trees to build a solar panel farm that will occasionally generate electricity.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources wants to destroy a forest in Otsego County to install rows of Chinese-made solar panels.
“Republican State Representative Ken Borton of Gaylord and others are upset with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources over a plan to destroy more than 400 acres of forest, located just west of Gaylord, to clear the way for the solar panels. Borton says there should be mass firings at the DNR over it.” – WSJM reported.
“I’m hearing from many of my Democrat friends, people who believe in climate change, that they realize that for them to cut all these trees down is absolutely going the wrong way,” Borton said, according to WSJM.
MLive reported:
Several Michigan lawmakers are expressing outrage about plans to lease 420 acres of state forestland for a solar farm in Otsego County.
An official with the state Department of Natural Resources confirmed the agency continues to respond to multiple inquiries from legislators about siting solar panels on state-managed public lands after an MLive report published Thursday. Several Republican state lawmakers issued statements on Friday, arguing anyone at the DNR responsible for this decision should be fired.
DNR leadership recently decided to request bids for a solar project on public trust lands in Hayes Township, just west of Gaylord at the 45th Parallel. The effort would be a companion project to two other solar farms in the works on nearby private land.
All three solar installations would take advantage of proximity to a high-voltage power transmission line that runs through the area.
INSANITY: Michigan is clearing over 400 acres of a forest to create rows of Chinese-made solar panels that just occasionally generate electricity.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 3, 2025
And it’s not even going to help the environment. A recent study found “the loss of carbon-dioxide gobbling forests for solar… pic.twitter.com/UXhQTUoR8v
