Trump targets solar and wind with tighter federal permitting in another blow to renewable industry

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will now make the final decision over wind and solar permitting on federal lands that his department owns

Additionally, The Interior Department said it was ending preferential treatment for renewables and "levelling the playing field" for coal and natural gas

The renewable industry said Interior is unfairly singling out solar and wind for political reasons (something worth watching)

Grogan | CNBC Solar and wind jects that need federal permitting will face even closer scrutiny by the Trump administration, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum now making the final decision on whether they ceed on U. -owned lands

However, However, Burgum will now have "final review" of leases, rights-of-way, construction plans and every other aspect of the Interior Department's federal permitting cess for wind and solar jects, according to an internal memo published by the department on Thursday

The Interior Department said in a statement that it is "levelling the playing field" for coal and natural gas "after years of assault" by Biden administration

Additionally, The renewable industry's main lobby group the American Clean Power Association said the action amounted to politically motivated obstruction

Additionally, "The Interior Department adds three new layers of needless cess and unprecedented political review to the construction of domestic energy jects," ACP CEO Jason Grumet said in a statement

On the other hand, "This isn't oversight

This analysis suggests that 's obstruction that will needlessly harm the fastest growing sources of electric power," Grumet said, in today's market environment

Interior is adding bureaucracy and red tape that will slow electricity duction growth at a time when demand is rising from artificial intelligence data centers, said Stephanie Bosh, a spokesperson at the Solar Energy Industries Association (fascinating analysis)

Nevertheless, "It's deeply unfortunate that this administration's energy policy continues to favor specific nologies rather than advance true American energy dominance," Bosh said in a statement

Interior's action is the blow dered to the renewable energy industry by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, given current economic conditions

Nevertheless, President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminates key tax incentives that have supported the growth of wind and solar jects in the U

However, Trump issued an executive order shortly after the legislation passed that called for Interior "to eliminate preferential treatment for wind and solar facilities compared to reliable, dispatchable energy sources," a reference to coal, natural gas and nu power. 5% of solar jects and 1% of wind jects are located on federal land, according to ACP.