President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to stop all permits for wind energy projects.
Trump on Monday evening issued a sweeping executive order that the government “shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects” pending what the order describes as a “comprehensive assessment” of the industry’s myriad impacts on the economy, environment and other factors.
This affects all offshore wind development in the U.S., because all of that takes place in the Outer Continental Shelf, an ocean expanse under federal control that is leased for all kinds of energy production.
It also impacts wind projects on federal lands. Although the extent of the impact to onshore wind is unclear because some wind projects are on state lands, project developers often must get approvals under federal environmental and species protection laws, so an end to permits will be quite painful for the sector.
The new order also withdrew all waters in the Outer Continental Shelf from access to wind leasing and launched a new Interior Department review of existing wind energy leases that will identify “any legal basis” for termination or amendment based on “ecological, economic, and environmental necessity.” This opens the door to offshore wind developers potentially losing their leases.
Additionally, the order specifically bans wind energy development at the site sought after for the Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho. Lava Ridge has been contentious because of its vicinity to a historic internment camp where Japanese Americans were forced to live during World War II. The project was fully permitted days before the end of Biden’s term. But in spite of those approvals, critics of the project close to the project insisted Trump would act on his own to kill it.
The order’s provisions are similar to a request we reported on last week that anti-offshore wind advocates transmitted to the Trump transition team, although it’s clear the draft didn’t wind up in the final version.
In addition, the order asks for a separate study to assess the “environmental impact and cost to surrounding communities of defunct and idle windmills” to determine whether any wind turbines — which the order calls “windmills” — should be removed. This study will be conducted by the Interior Department, the Energy Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
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