JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In an effort to protect Missourians’ property rights, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey directed a letter to Biden’s Department of Energy urging them to halt their $4.9 billion loan to aid the Grain Belt Express (GBE), a massive transmission line project that will unlawfully seize land from Missouri property owners. Attorney General Bailey is currently in litigation to protect local property owners from the project threatening their land.
“I will not allow the languishing Biden-Harris Administration to shortcut the legal process and force Missouri farmers to give up their land. No one knows better how to use Missouri land than Missouri farmers, ranchers, and property owners,” said Attorney General Bailey. “My office will continue to fight for personal property rights at every turn.”
In the letter, Attorney General Bailey writes, “I write to you in response to a recent announcement by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (DOE LPO) of its ‘conditional commitment’ to secure the controversial, and much opposed, Grain Belt Express (GBE) merchant transmission line with a $4.9 billion loan guarantee. This announcement comes even though DOE’s LPO has not yet proposed- let alone finalized – an environmental impact statement that would provide Missourians the opportunity to comment on this project and its impact on their lives.”
He continues,” “The massive size and scope of the GBE transmission project, spanning much of northern Missouri, depends on the unlawful seizing of land from Missouri property owners through the misuse of eminent domain. GBE has also pursued legal action against local governments after they refused to allow it to string lines across county roads. To date, my office has stepped in to defend their interests against a project built and funded by well-heeled, out-of-state, private interests on the hope that someday energy purchasers across the country might want the power flowing through GBE’s lines. Plainly speaking, this is a speculative business venture designed to benefit investors and out-of-state interests rather than Missourians.
“…After nearly two years of radio silence, suddenly the Biden administration – in its quest to implement its Green New Deal agenda before leaving office – appears to be shortcutting the vital public engagement process by shoveling out this massive amount of taxpayer-supported financing for a select group of investors.”
Attorney General Bailey concludes, “You must immediately reverse this short-sighted, egregious abuse of power and reckless spending on a project that the vast majority of Missourians do not want and did not ask for. DOE should announce, without delay, a date for publication of a DEIS for this project, and schedule a series of robust, in-person meetings to afford Missourians the opportunity to share about the impact of the Grain Belt Express on their livelihoods. Anything less is unacceptable.”
General Bailey previously intervened in a lawsuit against the Grain Belt Express in Monroe County, Missouri. The litigation is ongoing.
The full letter released today can be read here.
General Bailey’s motion to intervene in Monroe County can be read here.