Lawmakers in Texas have stopped a Chinese billionaire’s effort to create a 15,000-acre wind farm on top of a large plot of land he bought after news of his agenda got the attention of a conservancy organization.
The group warned first about the environmental harm and then stressed that Sun Guangxin’s connections to the CCP and how the project might allow him access to the Texas power grid.
And the 140,000 acres that Sun bought in recent years is close to Laughlin Air Force Base causing national security worries.
GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott enacted the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act back in June.
“As far as I understand, this is the first of its kind by any state in this country,” Abbott said about the bill created to stop “hostile nations” from getting access to Texas’ electricity grid and other “vital infrastructure,” like waste treatment systems and computer networks.
Conservatives in Congress also weighed in, including Republican Senators John Cornyn (TX) and Ted Cruz, with the latter putting forward the Protecting Military Ranges and Installations Act of 2021, a bill that would have the Committee for Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to do an additional review of “any lease or purchase of real estate close to a military airspace or military installation in the U.S. by a foreign individual linked to or funded by Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea.”
The Texas law also shows those four nations as “hostile nations.”
Julie Lewey, who is the director of the Devils River Conservancy, stated that while the environmental affect didn’t get traction, pointing out Sun’s history, including being a good member of the CCP and an army captain, created a political firestorm.
“We are worried for our national security, as all red-blooded Americans are,” Lewey said.
But Sun’s team insisted that the reply is an over-reaction.
Stephen Lindsey, who is a spokesman for GH America, Sun’s firm involved in the project, said it got federal approval since GH America is driven to be transparent and “over-complying with the regulations structure,” the Mail said.
Lindsey said national security worries had been dealt with already through certain federal regulatory channels.
“It’s being created as a national security problem, but really it is a way of saying: ‘not in my backyard,’” Lindsey said.
Author: Scott Dowdy