Trump’s 19-year war on wind power is ‘weaponizing bureaucracy to undermine American energy production,’ critics say

It was the first-known example of Trump’s years-long war against wind power

But he’s carried that fight much more aggressively in his second term as U.S. president

Upon his return to Scotland this July, he emphasized: “We will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States

Trump added Aug. 20 on Truth Social that he “will not apve” wind or solar jects. “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!” he posted

While Trump may not prevent every new wind turbine installed in the U.S., he certainly is trying

Potentially most onerously, wind or solar jects must now go through three levels of federal review, including personally by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who said in August that “gargantuan, unreliable, intermittent energy jects hold America back from achieving U.S. energy dominance.” These secretary-level reviews include many posed on private land

Earlier this month, the administration canceled the massive Lava Ridge Wind ject in Idaho, yanking permits apved last year

More wind jects were built during Trump’s first term than during the Biden administration

It’s only now though that U.S. power demand is surging—thanks to the AI data center boom—and it’s happening just when renewable energy is being handicapped

Average electricity bill costs are up 7% year over year as of May, according to the Department of Energy, and they’re jected to keep rising. “It’s a triumph of polarization over pragmatism,” American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet told Fortune. “What is mind-boggling is that, after eliminating the subsidies, the administration has then gone on the attack with federal mandates and buckets of red tape to actively oppose jects being built.” Executive ‘double-cross’ The last-minute commise in the “Big Beautiful Bill” focused on keeping the renewable energy tax credits in place for now—but quickly phasing them out

As soon as the omnibus spending law was passed, the Trump administration went to work making it harder to qualify for the tax credits—specifically what counts as ground

Those revised rules were finalized on Aug.15

Grumet calls it a “double-cross” to immediately change the rules after reaching a deal that was already tough on the clean power sector. “This is basically an ‘America Last’ energy policy,” he said

The fear was the administration would change the rules even more dramatically, but some Republican senators—including John Curtis of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa—threatened holds on confirming some Trump nominees until the rules were released

After all, most new wind and solar farms are being built in so-called red states

Also troublesome for the industry are new foreign-sourcing rules that penalize jects for using Chinese parts in a renewables industry dominated by Chinese supply chains

Other regulatory aspects are potentially worse for the industry too

For instance, Burgum’s Interior Department went a step further on Aug. 1 to also include “enhanced” reviews for power line transmission jects that are deemed to help enable wind or solar jects

Christina Hayes, executive director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, told Fortune that the transmission policy move adds more “uncertainty” when the nation rapidly needs more power infrastructure, especially when power lines are agnostic to electricity generated by wind or coal burning. “There’s no ing hack for electrons

Once an electron is on the system, it is all the other electrons,” Hayes said, ceeding to make a Harry Potter reference. “It’s not , ‘Oh, you’re a Gryffindor electron, you’re a renewable electron, you’re Hufflepuff, you’re coal.’ That’s not how this works.” Rising obstacles Potentially the most insidious changes for wind and solar aren’t the outright policy revisions, but the behind-the-curtains roadblocks created: federal websites going dark, meetings canceled, phone calls repeatedly unanswered. “In order to permit a ject, you have to interact with the federal government,” Grumet said. “You’re a developer, and you’ve gone through your 63 of 64 steps, and suddenly you can’t get your final meeting

And now future permits are going to be politicized at the cabinet secretary level for everything from where you put a fence to how you create a road

It’s weaponizing bureaucracy to undermine American energy duction.” For instance, Hayes said Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts contributed to the Energy Department’s staffing for the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits gram (CITAP) shrinking from 60 people to six—critical for transmission siting and permitting

He’s even falsely said the noise can cause cancer

But mostly, he loathes wind turbines for their aesthetics

On the other hand, air pollution from fossil fuels can be carcinogenic, and the U.S

Outside of, yes, cats, the leading cause of bird deaths is building and glass collisions, including Trump’s towers in New York and around the world

Trump’s Aberdeen golf complex also was built on sand dunes that housed multiple species of endangered birds. “The American public sees past the idea that a wind blade is a carcinogen,” Grumet said. “The issue the president really focuses on is the aesthetics

That’s a matter of personal opinion if the president thinks that staring at a natural gas facility is a source of American beauty, and staring at a wind turbine is an assault on the landscape.” So, why now? One, this Trump administration is more filled with partisan players who were prepared to hit the ground running

Two, the energy fight increasingly has become more politically biased. “Between 2020 and 2024, I think the whole energy debate became more partisan, and wind power, in particular, got locked into the ‘us versus them’ imagination of the way America works,” Grumet said

Yes, it’s a tough time for renewable energy in America

Fewer jects will come to fruition

The extent of that decline is un

But new natural gas-fired plants and nu facilities will take five to 10 years to build

Retiring coal plants will have their s ext, but only temporarily

New power generation is needed more quickly, and renewables, especially solar power, will still fill most of the short-term gap—with or without tax credits. “We are inexorably moving toward a more efficient, lower-carbon energy system,” Grumet said. “The president’s actions certainly could slow that down for a couple years, but the direction is not going to change.” Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world

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