JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Attorney General’s Office yesterday hand-delivered a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy urging the rescission of the Biden Administration’s conditional approval of a $4.9 billion loan guarantee to the Grain Belt Express (GBE). The Attorney General warned that the speculative transmission line project, backed by foreign investors, poses a direct threat to Missouri landowners and was greenlit with little regard for state law or private property rights.
“The Biden Administration fast-tracked a multi-billion-dollar subsidy to line the pockets of foreign investors under the guise of green energy, all while trampling on the rights of Missouri farmers,” said Attorney General Bailey. “I urge Secretary Wright to immediately halt federal funding for this green energy boondoggle. My office will continue to push back against unlawful land grabs and defend the interests of hard-working Missourians.”
Attorney General Bailey’s letter comes just days after his Office issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to GBE over misleading claims about job creation, economic benefits, and its widespread use of eminent domain. The company has already filed nearly 50 lawsuits to forcibly seize land from Missouri citizens. In parallel, the Attorney General has also sent a letter to the Missouri Public Service Commission, requesting that it reexamine GBE’s application. The letter notes that GBE’s applications relied on speculative and possibly fraudulent assumptions, including the existence of a carbon tax that was never enacted by Missouri or federal law and does not exist.
This action reflects Attorney General Bailey’s ongoing commitment to protecting private property rights and defending Missouri citizens against federal overreach. The Office previously raised red flags about GBE’s deceptive conduct and has maintained that no federal subsidy should reward a company that misleads regulators and targets family farms with condemnation.
As stated in the letter, “This speculative project seeks to line the pockets of GBE’s foreign investors with fast-tracked federal funding, hastily approved by President Biden to promote his Green New Deal agenda, with complete disregard to the private property rights of Missouri farmers and other landowners.”