New report outlines eight state-level solutions to stop destructive industrial solar buildout
Industrial solar projects require the conversion of vast tracts of prime agricultural land, wreak havoc upon the environment and kill wildlife, rely on forced labor, destabilize electric grids, and are immensely costly
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL (April 16, 2025) Industrial solar facilities have increased dramatically in recent years, spurred by governmental regulations, subsidies, and other incentives. In a new Policy Study by The Heartland Institute, “How States Can Push Back Against the Destructive Expansion of Industrial Solar Power,” authors Jack McPherrin and H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D., outline the myriad problems associated with industrial solar expansion — and the reliance upon solar energy more generally — and conclude with a set of concrete solutions policymakers should consider to protect their states.
This paper outlines the major harms caused by industrial solar, including the destruction of productive farmland, widespread environmental degradation, the generation of highly toxic waste, its dependence on forced labor, its inherent inefficiency and destabilization of electric grids, and massive taxpayer-funded costs borne by ratepayers and the public.
McPherrin and Burnett recommend eight steps state and federal policymakers can take to minimize the harm from industrial solar development, among them are:
- Repeal renewable portfolio standards
- Eliminate special financial incentives for industrial solar development
- Tax farmland converted into industrial solar parks at industrial rates instead of agricultural rates
- Prohibit procurement of solar energy products sourced through child or slave labor
- Prevent preferential permitting and impose siting requirements as conditions of permitting
States that prioritize affordable energy, environmental stewardship, and human dignity should act swiftly to protect their citizens from the myriad costs of industrial solar development.
The following statements by authors of the policy study from The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected] and 312/377-4000 or (cell) 312/731-9364.
“Solar power is a loser. It is expensive, environmentally destructive, and undermines the reliability of the electric power system that the United States built out over the past century and has been the envy of the world. Solar power also makes America dependent on China for the security of its electric power supply, a bad idea any way you consider it.
“The sooner government—both state and federal—end subsidies encouraging and mandates requiring solar power, the better off America will be. This paper lays out the case for the problems inherent to solar power, and steps that states and the federal government can take to discourage or at least not encourage and enable additional solar power being added to the grid.”
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.
Director, Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
“Far from a clean energy solution, industrial solar development poses serious economic, environmental, and ethical risks. It consumes vast tracts of vital agricultural land, destroys habitats, relies upon forced labor, destabilizes electric grids, and is immensely costly—with American taxpayers and ratepayers ultimately footing the bill.
“Further, like other renewable energy sources, the industrial solar industry is a textbook case of market socialism. It has been entirely created and perpetuated by government subsidies and regulations antithetical to free-market principles. State policymakers have the tools to reverse course, and our report gives them the blueprint.”
Jack McPherrin
Research Fellow, Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center
Research Editor
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
The Heartland Institute is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1984 and headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our website or call 312/377-4000.
