Wind energy in the United States is affected by Trump’s executive order

President Trump has launched a broad attack on the U.S. wind energy industry, with a sweeping executive order that could block not only new offshore wind farms in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but potentially many more wind farms. small ones on federal lands and even on private property. across the country.

The order, which Mr. Trump signed in the Oval Office Monday evening, would end all leasing of federal lands and waters for new wind farms pending further government review of the industry. It also directs federal agencies to stop issuing permits for all wind farms anywhere in the country for now, a move that could disrupt projects on private lands, which sometimes require federal wildlife or other permits. environmental permits.

Although the order does not include freezing wind projects already under construction, Mr. Trump has asked the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior to explore the possibility of “terminating or modifying” the leases already issued. That means projects that have already received federal approval could face new hurdles.

Taken together, these measures could prove crippling for the U.S. wind industry, which provides 10% of the nation’s electricity and is a major energy source in Republican-led states like Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas. The wind industry currently has nearly 40 gigawatts of projects – enough to power tens of millions of homes – under development across the Atlantic Ocean and in states like Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota.

The Biden administration has approved permits for 11 commercial-scale wind farms along the Atlantic Coast. Five of them are under construction and one is completed. But Eastern states like New York and Massachusetts hoped to build even more offshore wind projects to meet their renewable energy goals. These objectives are now in jeopardy.