Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter to Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), urging an immediate investigation into a nearly $5 billion green energy project.
“@ElonMusk I am here to report $5 BILLION in wasted taxpayer dollars allocated to fund a green energy scam and massive land grab from Missouri farmers and landowners,” Bailey wrote.
“I’m urging DOGE to immediately identify and cancel any DOE loan guarantees for the Grain Belt Express project,” he added.
@ElonMusk I am here to report $5 BILLION in wasted taxpayer dollars allocated to fund a green energy scam and massive land grab from Missouri farmers and landowners.
I’m urging DOGE to immediately identify and cancel any DOE loan guarantees for the Grain Belt Express project. pic.twitter.com/eRBoP6wvH4
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) March 6, 2025
A closer look:
Per Andrew Bailey:
The Grain Belt Express project proposes constructing massive transmission lines across Missouri farmland to transport wind-generated energy from Kansas to other states. The project has sparked widespread outrage among Missouri farmers and landowners whose properties face confiscation through the unjust use of eminent domain.
“In the waning, chaotic days of the Biden Administration — when the former president’s mental decline had grown to such a severe state that we now know he was not actually running his own White House and often signed documents without even knowing what they contained — left-wing bureaucrats seized the opportunity to advance their radical ‘green agenda,’” said Attorney General Bailey. “In the shadows of this confusion, far-left deep staters advanced a $4.9 billion green energy federal loan guarantee boondoggle to bankroll the Grain Belt Express (GBE), one of the most egregious abuses of taxpayer dollars in recent memory.”
Attorney General Bailey emphasized that the project is less about renewable energy and more about lining the pockets of wealthy investors. “This so-called renewable energy project is nothing more than a government-sponsored land grab disguised as environmentalism. Missouri farmers — the backbone of our state and nation — now face the prospect of watching their lands carved apart, all to satisfy the greed of private investors.”
The letter highlights that the GBE project has initiated nearly 40 eminent domain proceedings against Missouri landowners, threatening to strip hard-working citizens of their property rights to benefit out-of-state corporations.
“We will not stand by while Missouri families are steamrolled by out-of-state interests and unelected bureaucrats pushing a radical green agenda,” Bailey said.
“I urge DOGE to immediately investigate and cancel federal funding for the nearly $5 billion in waste from the GBE, putting an end to this shameful legacy of the Biden Administration—a legacy defined by incompetence, corruption, and blatant disregard for American property rights. Missouri farmers, taxpayers, and the American people deserve better,” he added.
🚨BREAKING: I am urging @ElonMusk + @DOGE to investigate nearly $5 BILLION in federal waste bankrolling the Grain Belt Express project – a massive green energy scam and land grab threatening Missouri farmers.
Missouri farmers built this state. I will protect them.
THREAD:
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) March 6, 2025
KOMU 8 reports:
The Grain Belt Express project will construct power lines across Missouri farmland to transport wind-generated energy around the Midwest. Construction is currently set to begin in 2026 and will start in Kansas, making its way through Missouri and Illinois before ending in Indiana.
Regulators warn that aging energy infrastructure in the Midwest is struggling to keep up with high energy demands. Grain Belt Express will provide access to clean, renewable power that is said to be more affordable for consumers across the Midwest. The Grain Belt Express line will also make it possible to import substantial amounts of excess electricity to help alleviate or avoid outages in the Midwest.
The Grain Belt Express project has sparked concern among Missouri farmers and landowners whose properties fall in the project’s path. In his letter sent to DOGE, Bailey highlights that the GBE project has initiated nearly 40 eminent domain proceedings against Missouri landowners, stripping citizens of their property rights.
The Illinois-based company Invenergy runs the Grain Belt Express clean-energy project. The Missouri Independent reported in February that Grain Belt Express had filed nearly 40 eminent domain petitions against Missouri property owners since 2021.