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President Trump yesterday ordered the federal government to stop all permits for wind energy projects. The order says the government “shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects” pending a “comprehensive assessment” of the industry’s myriad impacts on the economy, environment and other factors. The order also opens the door to offshore wind developers potentially losing their leases. This affects all offshore wind development in the U.S., as well as wind projects on federal lands. The order specifically bans wind energy development at the site sought after for the Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho. The project was fully permitted days before the end of Biden’s term. Shares in wind power companies dropped on the news. Separately, Orsted fell by 18% after it announced a $1.7 billion impairment charge due to challenges in the U.S. wind market, and especially at its Sunrise Wind project.
Trump also functionally ended former President Joe Biden’s tailpipe emissions standards, which had aimed to “accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicles future and tackle the climate crisis.” The executive order also appeared to target the Biden administration’s fuel economy standards, and the EPA’s waiver for California to set its own emissions standards under the Clean Air Act.
As expected, Trump has officially notified the United Nations of America’s intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, calling the accord a “one-sided rip-off.” “Leaving the Paris Agreement is more symbolic than anything,” writes Heatmap’s Katie Brigham. “Beyond the more nebulous — but very real — loss of international leadership on climate issues, there’s no tangible repercussions for exiting the agreement. Nor, as many party nations consistently demonstrate, any legal recourse for staying in while failing to meet targets or set sufficient goals.” It takes a full year for withdrawal to become official. But Trump will almost certainly henceforth act as if the U.S. is no longer bound by the treaty, which has been adopted by nearly every other nation on Earth, in an effort to keep global warming “well below” 2 degrees Celsius.
A “historic” winter storm is bringing snow and ice to parts of the Deep South that rarely see such conditions, threatening the power grid and disrupting travel along the Gulf Coast. The system, called Winter Storm Enzo, has already triggered weather alerts across central and eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida (where a winter storm watch was issued for the first time in over a decade). “Power and other infrastructure disruptions are possible,” warned The Weather Channel, though Texas’ grid operator, ERCOT, said the grid was ready. The arctic blast driving the storm has also triggered weather advisories for much of the rest of the U.S., with temperatures 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit below January averages in most places.
Renewable energy installations continue to soar in China. Official data from the Chinese National Energy Administration shows the country’s installed solar and wind power capacity increased by 45.2% and 18%, respectively, last year, breaking the previous year’s records. Solar power installations in China now top 886 GW, with wind power at 520 GW. “The record installation means China has hit its 2030 renewables target six years early,” noted Bloomberg. China expects to add another 273 GW of solar and 94 GW of wind in 2025. Current wind power capacity in the U.S. is about 152 GW, and solar capacity is about 220 GW, according to the most recent data.
“There is no energy emergency. There is a climate emergency.”
–Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council
