By Governor Brad Little

     Fighting back against federal government overreach is in Idahoans’ DNA.

     Five years ago, when the massive Lava Ridge Wind Project was first proposed on federally managed land in the Magic Valley, Idahoans displayed that hard-wired skepticism of the federal government yet again and consistently showed up to beat back the feds.

     Our resistance could be summed up in the line made famous by U.S. Senator Jim Risch when he grilled Biden’s Secretary of the Interior on the project: “Don’t do it!”

     I joined a chorus of elected officials – including our entire congressional delegation, Lt. Governor Scott Bedke, and many other local and state officials – in singing Senator Risch’s tune.

     We’ve written letters, we’ve attended local meetings, we’ve held hearings, we’ve taken executive action, and we've voiced our opinions over and over and over in opposition to a project that would mar our landscapes with turbines taller than the Space Needle in order to deliver more energy to the dysfunctional state of California.

     Despite Idahoans’ steady resistance to the massive Lava Ridge Wind Farm proposal, the Biden Administration rammed through a decision last year rejecting the will of the very people the project would impact the most.

     Thankfully, on day one of his second term as President, Donald Trump reversed the ill-advised actions of the previous president. We owe a debt of gratitude to our congressional delegation and U.S. Senator Jim Risch and Congressman Mike Simpson in particular for keeping this important issue at the forefront with President Trump.

     To complement President Trump’s actions, I signed my first executive order of 2025 last week – the Gone with the Wind Lava Ridge Wind Project Act.

     With the President’s executive order and mine, we will ensure Idahoans’ voices will be heard on any energy project large or small moving forward.

     To bolster our promise to listen to the people, I also issued the SPEED Act two days after my executive order on Lava Ridge. The SPEED Act – which stands for the Strategic Permitting, Efficiency, and Economic Development  Act – commits a great level of transparency and public input on a variety of projects that promote energy independence, support national security, and drive our economy.

     I want to thank the people of the Magic Valley and my fellow elected officials for staying in the fight against the Lava Ridge Wind Project. We’ve never been happier to see a proposal get blown away!