SUMMARY

A upstate New York farmer protests a 750-acre solar farm proposed by Borlex in Fort Edward, highlighting state overrides of local boards, farmland loss, and environmental harm amid green energy pushes.

STATEMENTS

• Big solar conglomerates are targeting rural U.S. farmland, with a 750-acre project in Fort Edward, New York, threatening a picturesque valley cherished for its natural beauty.
• The state of New York is overriding local town boards to fast-track solar projects, prioritizing green energy initiatives over community input and local democracy.
• Solar farms of this scale require extensive chain-link barbed wire fencing, disrupting animal migrations and critical habitats for birds, pollinators, and burrowing species.
• Anchoring massive solar panels involves driving them 5 to 15 feet into the ground, destroying soil-based ecosystems and overwintering sites for native pollinators.
• Weed management under panels relies on thousands of pounds of pesticides, causing drift that harms surrounding residents and ecosystems, without agrivoltaics implementation.
• Property values near large solar farms decrease by at least 7%, altering the bucolic rural landscape and diminishing the aesthetic and emotional value of open farmlands.
• These projects end historic farming traditions in areas like Saratoga, where families have farmed since the 1700s, exacerbating food autonomy issues as farmland vanishes.
• Power from upstate solar farms primarily serves New York City and its data centers, leaving rural communities without benefits like lower bills or energy credits.
• Landowners face pressure from solar companies to sell active farms outright, ignoring cultural heritage like 300-year-old structures for quick financial gain.
• The current farmland transfer, valued at $24 trillion over 15 years, risks concentrating land in corporate hands unless everyday Americans acquire it through unconventional means.

IDEAS

• Solar conglomerates like Borlex from Quebec exploit state incentives to seize vast rural valleys, turning idyllic landscapes into dystopian industrial zones without regard for local heritage.
• State overrides of town boards undermine democracy, allowing governments to impose "green" agendas that prioritize urban power needs over rural livelihoods and ecosystems.
• Fencing and deep panel anchoring in solar farms create invisible barriers, confining wildlife to fragments of their former ranges and accelerating habitat loss for endangered species.
• Pesticide-heavy weed control in non-agrivoltaic projects poisons air and soil, contradicting environmental goals by contaminating nearby human and animal populations.
• The visual blight of massive solar arrays on valley floors erodes not just property values but the psychological well-being tied to open, rolling farmlands.
• Historic farmlands, tied to Revolutionary War-era families, face erasure, raising ethical questions about short-term landowner profits versus long-term community and generational impacts.
• Urban centers like New York City extract rural resources akin to a dystopian "Hunger Games" scenario, plundering upstate land for AI data centers without reciprocity.
• Self-sufficient rural communities resist unnecessary solar industrialization, advocating for localized energy solutions like rooftop panels in cities to preserve farmland integrity.
• Active working farms with centuries-old structures are targeted for outright sale, highlighting how corporate land grabs dismantle operational agriculture for speculative energy ventures.
• The $24 trillion farmland wealth transfer offers opportunities for average citizens to reclaim land via eco-villages, nonprofits, or gifting, countering corporate dominance.

INSIGHTS

• Green energy mandates often mask corporate land grabs, where state power overrides local voices to convert productive farmland into industrial energy zones, prioritizing urban elites over rural sustainability.
• Large-scale solar without agrivoltaics destroys biodiversity more than it preserves, as fencing, anchoring, and pesticides fragment habitats and introduce toxins, revealing the irony of "green" initiatives.
• The aesthetic and spiritual value of unspoiled rural landscapes underpins human flourishing, yet solar sprawl quantifiably devalues properties while eroding the cultural soul of agrarian communities.
• Farmland loss accelerates food insecurity, as converting acres to solar exports power to cities but leaves regions without agricultural autonomy, echoing exploitative resource extraction patterns.
• Short-term landowner incentives foster intergenerational betrayal, where selling out for quick cash dooms descendants to a homogenized, industrialized countryside devoid of historical farming legacies.
• Empowering everyday people to access farmland through creative financing counters oligarchic control, transforming a massive wealth transfer into a democratizing force for localized, resilient food systems.

QUOTES

• "There's nothing green about this."
• "The state of New York is coming in to town local village boards steamrolling them and basically saying, 'Yeah, we understand you guys practice local democracy. We don't care though when it comes to solar energy because we know more than you.'"
• "This will be the end of an era for this area. It will be the end of the farming way of life for thousands of acres of people of farmers who have been in this area since the Revolutionary War."
• "Our villages are like district 10 up here. They're plundering us, our land, where we grow our food to send power to the capital, which in this case is New York City."
• "When this land is gone, it is gone forever. And only then will the people in the cities maybe finally pay attention when the food they were accustomed to eating isn't on the shelves anymore."

HABITS

• Attending local town hearings to voice opposition and stay informed on solar project developments.
• Maintaining a personal solar panel setup while advocating for off-grid living to align with sustainable principles.
• Documenting and sharing protest journeys through weekly Substack articles to educate and mobilize communities.
• Stewarding land through active farming, including raising animals like rabbits for natural fertilizer in gardening.
• Exploring unconventional land acquisition methods, such as setting up eco-villages or using nonprofits, to preserve farmland access.

FACTS

• A single acre measures about 90% the size of a football field, making a 750-acre solar farm equivalent to over 675 football fields of industrialized land.
• New York State's green energy initiatives provide tax credits and funding that solar companies like Borlex exploit, overriding local town board decisions.
• Solar farm fencing disrupts migrations, with 750 acres potentially encompassing an animal's entire known territory or a pollinator's 500-foot range.
• Property values near solar farms drop by at least 7%, based on available studies, with greater impacts in scenic valleys like those at the Adirondack base.
• Up to $24 trillion in U.S. farmland will change hands over the next 15 years, marking the largest wealth transfer in lifetimes, often to corporate entities.

REFERENCES

• Substack publication "House of..." covering protests against big solar farms and unconventional farmland buying strategies.
• Weekly series on acquiring farmland, including eco-villages, nonprofits, and gifting methods.
• Personal channel videos breaking down green energy scams and upstate New York land issues.

HOW TO APPLY

• Research upcoming local town hearings on solar projects in your area and attend to express concerns about farmland preservation and environmental impacts.
• Evaluate your property's vulnerability by checking for approaches from solar companies and prepare responses emphasizing community and historical value over short-term sales.
• Advocate for agrivoltaics in proposals, pushing developers to integrate farming under panels to minimize habitat disruption and pesticide use.
• Explore alternative energy placements like urban rooftops or highways, lobbying state officials to redirect incentives away from rural land grabs.
• Pursue unconventional farmland ownership by subscribing to resources on eco-villages, nonprofit funding, or gifting to secure small plots for personal stewardship.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Big solar land grabs threaten rural farmlands, urging communities to resist state overrides and reclaim land for sustainable food autonomy.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Prioritize localized solar solutions like rooftop installations in urban areas to spare precious rural farmlands from industrial conversion.
• Demand transparency in green energy funding, ensuring tax credits benefit communities rather than enabling corporate habitat destruction.
• Support conservation groups by joining efforts to protect critical grasslands and pollinator habitats from solar fencing and anchoring.
• Educate urban residents on rural plundering dynamics to build alliances against exporting power needs at the expense of food-producing regions.
• Invest in personal land stewardship through creative buying tactics to democratize the ongoing $24 trillion farmland wealth transfer.

MEMO

In the rolling valleys of upstate New York, where families have tilled the soil since the Revolutionary War, a quiet revolution is underway—not of progress, but of plunder. A farmer from Saratoga County, speaking from her working homestead amid clucking chickens and rustling winds, warns of big solar conglomerates eyeing 750 acres in neighboring Fort Edward. Borlex, a Quebec-based firm, proposes blanketing this idyllic landscape—prized for scenic drives and as a haven for birds and pollinators—with panels the size of football fields. Local boards, stewards of rural democracy, are being steamrolled by state mandates under Governor Kathy Hochul, who champions green energy at any cost.

The irony stings: solar, heralded as a beacon of sustainability, arrives barbed and brutal. Chain-link fences topped with wire will encircle the site, severing animal migration paths and confining species to fragments of their world. Panels driven 5 to 15 feet into the earth will bury burrowing creatures and overwintering pollinators, while herbicides—thousands of pounds strong—drift poisons to nearby homes and fields. No agrivoltaics here, no dual-use harmony of energy and agriculture; just a rush for tax credits funded by New York taxpayers. Property values plummet by at least 7%, but the true loss is ineffable: the soul-soothing vista of meadows, now a dystopian glare reflecting off silicon seas at the Adirondack foothills.

This isn't isolated—it's a land grab scripted for the entire countryside. Active farms with 300-year-old barns face outright buyouts, their histories erased for quick checks that betray future generations. Power surges not to light rural homes but to fuel Manhattan's AI data centers and skyscrapers, leaving upstate villages as exploited districts in a modern Hunger Games. Food autonomy hangs in the balance; as acres vanish, so does the buffer against supply chain fragility. The speaker, no Luddite—she powers her own panels off-grid—rails against the collusion of corporations and Albany, where "green" rhetoric masks urban voracity.

Yet hope flickers in resistance. The farmer attends hearings, pens Substack dispatches on unconventional land buys—from eco-villages to nonprofit trusts—and urges everyday Americans to claim their share of the $24 trillion farmland shift unfolding over the next 15 years. Cities could cloak rooftops, highways, and landfills in panels, generating shade and power without sacrificing the heartland. As she tends her rabbits, harvesting their fertilizer for vibrant gardens, her call echoes: silence now means scarcity later, when empty shelves force urban eyes to the fields forever lost. The fight for farmland is a fight for flourishing, one acre at a time.