Republican N.Y. Assemblymember Steve Hawley questions use of farmland for solar power
Should New York state think twice about swapping farmland for solar projects?
Last week at the State Fair, a farmer who spoke with Capital Tonight voiced his concern about the issue, saying that farmland in the state is disappearing fast.
That was confirmed by a 2024 agricultural report published by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli: Between 2012 and 2022, New York state lost 14% of its farms and 9% of its farmland.
Republican state Assemblymember Steve Hawley wrote Gov. Kathy Hochul a letter about the issue urging her to halt two large-scale solar projects in Genesee County.
Hawley, whose grandfather started his family farm in the 1900s, said that the solar projects in his district would, together, eliminate 6,000 acres of farmland from the state’s already shrinking agricultural landscape.
“Quite frankly, the acreage that is being developed by the state-mandated climate action plan by solar companies is destroying our prime agricultural acreage in this state,” Hawley told Capital Tonight.
Agricultural economics don’t favor farmers these days, and some see solar as an opportunity to make some money.
The Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act was signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019. It mandates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in New York by 40% by 2030, although Gov. Hochul told WGRZ over the summer that the pace of de-carbonization is being slowed so it doesn’t hurt ratepayers.
“We feed everybody,” said Hawley whose family still farms. “There’s an old adage, no farms, no food.”