U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is urging the U.S. Department of Defense to either terminate or suspend the environmental permit for the Blue Hills Wind Farm site in northern Val Verde County, Texas, due to security concerns raised by its proximity to Laughlin Air Force Base.
Cornyn (R-TX) wrote to the DOD earlier in July about the purchase of 130,000 acres of land near Laughlin Air Force Base by Sun Guangxin, an oligarch with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Over the past few years, I have been monitoring the ongoing saga of the Blue Hills Wind Farm located in Val Verde County Texas,” Cornyn said. “The Air Force and other military branches use this area’s low level training routes, and the project is associated with members of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Specifically, Cornyn wants the DOD to terminate or suspend the mitigation agreement, or contract, for the wind farm project until his office can fully investigate any threats the project poses to the critical training mission of Laughlin Air Force Base.
“Extending the current mitigation agreement without fully understanding any ongoing connection to the Chinese is unwise and short-sighted,” Cornyn said.
According to Cornyn, Sun Guangxin “intends to erect hundreds of 700-foot wind turbines, impeding the military’s mission, presenting a national security threat, and threatening a historical conservation corridor adjacent to and in between the Devils and Lower Pecos Rivers.”
Cornyn said that the wealthy businessman is from Xinjiang Province, where there is widespread abuse of the Uyghurs, and is a former senior leader in the Chinese military, which raises concerns about surveillance of Laughlin AFB and interference with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on behalf of the Chinese government.
Cornyn also explained that constituents object to the situation, stating that for the past seven years, members of the Del Rio community have fought the intrusion of the Chinese oligarch.
The infiltration by the CCP has been a continuing problem. As Texas Scorecard previously reported, the CCP’s purchase of large parcels of land in the state and across the country opens the door to security risks. In addition, the CCP’s targeting of agricultural land also poses a grave threat to the nation’s food supply.
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