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Michigan Farms and Property Rights at Risk
Michigan Farms and Property Rights at Risk
Doug Jackson, Chelsea, MI
Do not sign that ballot initiative circulating about farmland siting renewable energy.
Thanks to a new law, Michigan Public Act 233, passed last November, Michigan farmers have a better chance of saving their farms and property rights, preserving the rural character of their townships, protecting their land for future farming generations, promoting and protecting valuable and threatened pollinators, and helping Michigan achieve its clean energy goals.
However, since February there has been a ballot initiative circulating for signatures to bring to the polls the choice for voters to approve or repeal Michigan PA 233 scheduled to go into effect November 2024.
PA 233 relates to siting policies for renewable energy (wind, solar, and storage) projects over 50 Megawatts for solar and storage, and 100 Megawatts for wind. Acreage considered minimum for this act would be 500-1000 acres. This act gives landowners who want to lease their farmland to renewable energy utilities and the utilities themselves the option to appeal to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) should the local government either not have any ordinance plan for this scale of renewable energy project or are imposing unreasonable or unrealistic ordinances. The MPSC would take about a year to review and work with the local governments to decide if such a project is within reason and beneficial to the community and, if decided, would approve the project within the act’s specified parameters.
Thus, PA 233 would preserve the farmers’ rights to save their farms from financial collapse by allowing them to lease their acreage to renewable energy utilities where the local governments prohibit or make this option impossible. This saves farmers from selling their land to urban developers – thus changing the rural character of many townships, benefits the communities and the State in multiple ways, and helps Michigan achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040. So why oppose this?
The coalition called “Citizens for Local Choice”, a parent of “Our Home, Our Voice,” is circulating their petition to repeal the act under the utterly false arguments that this act takes away local control and could force farmers off their land, against their wills. Neither of these arguments could be further from the truth.
It turns out that this coalition’s spokesperson is a Lenawee County commissioner, Kevon Martis, who is getting messaging help from Marketing Resource Group, a PR firm that’s been working for fossil fuel companies for years. Martis is also a senior fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute that has historically been funded by the coal industry and fought wind energy projects with the aid of Koch Industries funding. Martis has been praised by the fossil fuel industry for years as he has campaigned to fight solar and wind projects in other states, including Ohio.
I know a farming family that has been directly affected by the polarized politics and disinformation around renewable energy provoked through the fossil fuel industry. They, like many Michigan farmers, are struggling financially to keep their large farms operating. Development pressures have historically led farmers to sell much of their land for housing and other developments – thus permanently losing thousands of acres of prime farmland - just so they could keep a little of their farm for future generations. This has, in many cases, changed the rural character of townships that the residents would prefer to keep.
My friends wanted to keep their 1000+ acre farm in the family, didn’t want to sell to developers, and to earn enough money to do this while not spoiling their community’s character. So, they investigated leasing much of their land to a solar utility contractor. The solar farm would have had ample vegetative screening, pro-pollinator fields within that would benefit neighboring farms as well, and would allow restoration of the farmland when the lease expires.
They could have chosen wind but knew that would not have been visibly pleasing. Leasing oil and natural gas rights on their property was not desirable either because of the eye sores and pollution. Solar made the most sense.
But extreme political views, a disinformation campaign that turned real ugly, and a recall of pro-solar township officials and replacement with fossil fuel friendly officials led to unrealistic ordinance changes that made my friends’ dreams impossible. Essentially, their property rights were stripped away by the extreme political views and campaign efforts of their township officials manipulated by the fossil fuel industry.
With the help of their State House Representative, Reggie Miller, working to amend PA 233 to be fair to all parties, including the local governments, their property rights can be restored, and their dreams of saving their farm, providing extra funds for themselves as well as their community, and providing clean renewable energy could be realized.
PA 233 does NOT take away local control but engages and enhances it. Nor will PA 233 displace farmers against their wills. Eminent Domain and Condemnation are not permitted in this law, and only farmers who want to lease their acreage would be considered under this law.
Before believing all the bull in the smog screen Citizens for Local Choice or Our Home, Our Voice are blowing at you, do your research. Below are links to the truth behind PA 233 and the coalition leading the initiative to repeal it.
Hey, if you want to support the political agenda of the fossil fuel industry, want to pay high energy prices, want climate change, love breathing unhealthy air, don’t care about your neighbors then go ahead and sign that petition. But if you’re like me and the League of Women Voters and want a better future, or any hope of a future at all, for your children, and support cleaner, cheaper, and renewable energy, then do all you can to support PA 233, don’t sign anything or vote for anything that would try to repeal it under whatever false narratives presented.
PA 233 Facts:
https://graham.umich.edu/product/science-siting-clean-energy-bridging-planning-policy-and-practice
Support:
https://lwvmi.org/advocacy-2021/
Opposition:
https://energyandpolicy.org/anti-wind-and-solar-michigan/
Video stories:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbnIHmvcjrA&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri9p6d8g9_o&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxyfIqG3IM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShToFulUdN4&feature=youtu.be
