States sue government over TotalEnergies wind for fossil fuels swap deal
A coalition of seven states has brought to court the Trump administration over one of its deals with TotalEnergies (EPA:TTE) that will see the French group exit its offshore wind activities in New York and invest in oil and gas instead.
California has criticized a second similar plan that would pay the company OceanWinds to withdraw from their existing lease off Morro Bay if they invest in fossil fuels instead.
Chinese investor plans new West Coast offshore wind project
Chinese wind turbine maker Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd (SHA:601615) will consider investing in an offshore wind project in the Hecate Strait off British Columbia, Canada, that will add between 1.5 GW and 2 GW of installed capacity.
The Chinese firm will assess opportunities to take part in the project under a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Oceanic Wind Energy Inc (NKW.H:CVE), the latter said on Thursday. The scheme related to the pact is a 50/50 partnership between Oceanic Wind Energy and Indigenous-owned company Coast Tsimshian Enterprises (CTE).
In new attack on solar, lawmakers spread myths about potato farms
Is Frito-Lay categorically refusing to buy potatoes grown on farmland that has hosted solar installations? No, the company says.
That hasn’t stopped lawmakers in Michigan and Pennsylvania from spreading the false claim about one of the biggest purchasers of potatoes in the country.
In January, Michigan Republican state Rep. Cam Cavitt posted a 51-second clip to Facebook labeled “Solar Farm SECRET.” In the segment, he claimed that farmers in his district couldn’t grow potatoes on land where solar developments were sited.
“Frito [Frito-Lay] did the same with the potato growers up by us,” fellow Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Prestin told Cavitt in the clip. “Any field that had solar panels installed on it will never be allowed to grow potatoes for human consumption due to the leaching.”
More than 1 million people viewed that video. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Cris Dush shared it and said he wanted “cash bond guaranteeing restoration” of the soil after a solar development was removed. “When Frito Lay refuses to accept potatoes from farms that had solar arrays we should all sit up and take notice!” he wrote.
PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, told Canary Media that the company “has not issued blanket guidance to growers that fields with solar installations will not be accepted.”
Nor is there any published evidence that solar farms have a negative impact on potato farming, according to experts consulted for this story. On the contrary, there is agrivoltaics research showing that potatoes — and many other crops — can benefit from growing alongside shade-making solar panels.
Canary Media