We’ve all seen it as we travel around this great country. Beautiful green fields and open land suddenly marred by huge solar installations. Even if we agree that there is a place for solar power in our energy mix, why are we sacrificing our most precious land resources like farmland and natural habitats?

There is a better way.

In the U.S. there are nearly 14,000 square miles of parking lots. And, there are over 86 billion square feet of rooftops on which solar panels could be installed. Combined, that’s nearly 11 million acres that could be used for solar installations without ruining our valuable farmland.

The huge cost associated with building out solar energy primarily comes from the infrastructure, like transmission lines, that would be necessary to get power to the population centers that need it. So, it’s a lot more efficient and cheaper to build out on these already available spaces in urban and suburban areas–where transmission lines already exist AND where it’s closer to the demand.

Food shortages have become a reality in the last few years. We all need to use common sense and think about our real priorities as Americans. Do we really believe that, reducing agricultural land to replace it with an expensive, unreliable, government-subsidized energy source sounds logical?

And, that’s why it’s so important that we stop letting the hysterical “green-at-any-cost” crowd scare us into literally leasing away the amber waves of grain that have fed this country—as well as many others around the globe—for generations. We need common-sense solutions, not doomsday nonsense.

Check out our TEA Newsroom to keep up to date on more common-sense energy news.