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). Doug Burgum, U.
Secretary of the Interior speaks during the Pennsylvania Energy And Innovation Summit 2025 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on July 15, 2025David A, in today's financial world.
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 Includes Essential Tax Hacks, Critical Legal Strategies, and Expert Insights">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.