Trump mounts new attack against wind projects on federal land
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The Trump administration is considering halting all wind development on federal lands and waters.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is considering halting all wind development on federal lands and in federal waters, as the President expands his campaign against the renewable energy source he has long criticised
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on July 29 ordered a comprehensive review of the agency’s approval process for wind projects, including right-of-way authorisations, environmental analysis and wildlife permits. The order, which Mr Burgum said aims to end preferential treatment for wind and solar, is sure to further spook renewables investors and developers already reeling from the administration’s attack on clean energy.
US President Donald Trump, who was in Scotland on July 29 to open a second golf course at his sprawling estate in the eastern part of the country, criticised Britain’s support for wind power and decried turbines as overly expensive eyesores.
“Windmills are a disgrace,” he said earlier in the day. “They hurt everything they touch. They’re ugly. They’re very inefficient. It’s the most expensive form of energy there is.”
Mr Trump, who fought against a wind project within view of his first golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, indefinitely halted the sale of new offshore wind leases on his first day in office and paused permitting of all wind projects on federal lands and waters. More recently, the Interior Department ordered that all solar and wind projects on federal lands required Mr Burgum’s sign-off, a move that threatens to mire their approval process in red tape.
In April, Mr Burgum halted work on Equinor ASA’s US$5 billion (S$6.4 billion) Empire Wind farm off the coast of New York, but then reversed the decision in May after the administration reached a deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul to open the way for new gas pipelines to be built in the state. Mr Torgrim Reitan, Equinor’s chief financial officer, said in an interview in June that further investments in US offshore wind are likely off the table. BLOOMBERG
