Trump administration considers additional hurdles for wind energy

The Trump administration will consider putting up further hurdles for the development of wind energy onshore and offshore, it announced late Tuesday afternoon.

In a press release, it said that it would undertake a review to consider “whether to stop onshore wind development on some federal lands and halting future offshore wind lease sales.”

In addition, the Interior Department will review bird deaths associated with wind energy. The Trump administration has weakened protections on migratory birds when they’re killed by companies generally. 

The wind move comes after President Trump again railed against wind energy while visiting Europe over the weekend. 

“These policy changes represent a commonsense approach to energy that puts Americans’ interests first,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a written statement. 

They follow a series of other actions taken by the Trump administration to hamper wind energy development as the president has repeatedly made clear his distaste for wind power.

The Interior Department recently said it will also put solar and wind projects through an elevated review process that is expected to significantly slow down their approval.

One of the first moves of Trump’s presidency was also a pause on federal wind approvals. 

While the last Trump administration pledged to support an “all of the above” energy strategy, this time around the administration has made clear that it favors fossil fuels and other energy sources like nuclear power while it tries to hold up solar and wind energy development.