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Policy Watch

Chaos in the Climate Kingdom

This week’s top news in renewable energy policy.

turbines.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Freeze, don’t move – The Trump administration this week attempted to freeze essentially all discretionary grant programs in the federal government. A list we obtained showed this would halt major energy programs and somehow also involve targeting work on IRA tax credits.

  • Despite a court ruling that was supposed to lift the freeze, key climate programs – like the EPA’s Solar For All effort – remain reportedly on ice.
  • Our guts here at Heatmap tell us there’ll be a lot more news to come on this front. Stay tuned.

2. Sorry, California – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management canceled public meetings on the environmental impact statement for offshore wind lease areas in California, indicating the Trump wind lease pause will also affect pre-approval activities.

  • BOEM claimed the meeting was only “postponed,” but did not provide a date for rescheduling. “We will provide additional information as it becomes available,” the agency stated in a notice posted on Tuesday.

3. Idaho we go – Idaho Gov. Brad Little this week signed an executive order dubbed the SPEED Act aimed at expediting all energy projects, including potentially renewables, transmission, and mining projects.

  • The order creates an Idaho permitting council to “design, implement, and facilitate” a new coordinated permitting process. The council will also “identify sections of statute or administrative rule that are duplicative, unnecessary, or unreasonably prolong the state’s permitting process.”

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Q&A

What the 1990s Can Tell Us About the IRA’s Chances

A conversation with Frank Maisano of Bracewell

Frank Maisano
Heatmap Illustration

Today’s Q&A is with Frank Maisano, one of the most sought-after energy lobbyists in Washington. Maisano, a Beltway veteran who has worked in Congress as well, has a long history with me that goes back to the earliest days of my environmental reporting career. So when I helped author a story for Heatmap this week about the budget risks to the Inflation Reduction Act, he reached out and asked if he could give me his take: that our reporting missed the mark.

Naturally, I asked if I could publish the whole thing in my newsletter, because what good is a lobbyist’s words if they aren’t written down? The following is an abridged version of our conversation, lightly edited for clarity.

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Hotspots

Empire Wind in the Crosshairs

And more of the week’s biggest renewable energy fights.

Renewable energy conflicts across the country.
Heatmap Illustration

1. Bristol County, Massachusetts – The state of Massachusetts is abandoning plans to build an offshore wind research center in New Bedford, a fishing town that has also hosted protests against Vineyard Wind.

  • According to media reports, a local attorney gathered more than 260 signatures against the project’s proposed location in New Bedford and municipal elected leaders spoke out against it.
  • This led the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a state entity planning the facility, to fold its plans and vote to reallocate all of the money to an “initiative” instead that will use existing buildings in the area. It’s unclear as of now what that will look like.

2. Long Island, New York – Speaking of offshore wind woes, the anti-wind activist movement is now circling Empire Wind and asking President Donald Trump to rescind the EPA air permit to the Equinor offshore project.

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Spotlight

The Solar Permitting Pause Is Over, BLM Says

Developers have yet to see the approvals start flowing, however.

Trump and solar panels.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The Bureau of Land Management claims that Trump’s pause on solar energy permitting is no longer in effect — though no permits have yet come of it.

President Trump paused permitting for solar as well as wind projects for 60 days via executive order on his first day in office. The expiration date on that pause was technically last Friday, and in an exclusive statement to Heatmap, BLM spokesperson Brian Hires said “there is currently no freeze on processing renewable applications for solar” or “making authorization decisions” on projects.

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Blue