Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/afida/)
A complex system of federal and state tax credits has played a key role in the development of wind farms across the United States, with billions of dollars of support going to foreign and U.S. energy companies.
Investment in U.S. wind energy production has increased tenfold over the past decade with the help of billions of dollars in federal tax help, with foreign companies making up much of the increase.
Since 2011, the USDA has only assessed 10 fines under AFIDA, worth $115,724, according to records obtained by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting through the Freedom of Information Act. And no fines were assessed in 2015, 2016 or so far in 2017.
Over the past decade, foreign companies have been investing in agricultural land in the United States at a record pace, according to a Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting analysis of USDA data. The data was compiled from 1900 to 2014 under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA).