All wind and solar energy projects to be personally approved by US Interior Secretary
The enhanced oversight on clean-energy projects is aimed at 'ending preferential treatment for unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy," the Interior Department said in a statement Thursday. The order "will ensure all evaluations are thorough and deliberative" on potential projects on millions of acres of federal lands and offshore areas, the department said.
Clean-energy advocates said the action could hamstring projects that need to be underway quickly to qualify for federal tax credits that are set to expire under the tax-cut and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4. The law phases out credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy while enhancing federal support for fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.
'At a time when energy demand is skyrocketing, adding more layers of bureaucracy and red tape for energy projects at the Interior Department is exactly the wrong approach,'' said Stephanie Bosh, senior vice president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. 'There's no question this directive is going to make it harder to maintain our global (artificial intelligence) leadership and achieve energy independence here at home.''
In the legislation, Trump and GOP lawmakers moved to dismantle the 2022 climate law passed by Democrats under President Joe Biden. And on July 7, Trump signed an executive order that further restricts subsidies for what he called 'expensive and unreliable energy policies from the Green New Scam.'
That order was part of a deal the Republican president made with conservative House Republicans who were unhappy that the tax-cut bill did not immediately end all subsidies for clean energy. A group of Republican senators, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Utah Sen. John Curtis, had pushed to delay phaseout of some of the credits to allow currently planned projects to continue.
Trump has long expressed disdain for wind power, describing it at a Cabinet meeting last week as an expensive form of energy that 'smart' countries do not use.
Even with the changes approved by the Senate, the new law will likely crush growth in the wind and solar industry and lead to a spike in Americans' utility bills, Democrats and environmental groups say. The law jeopardizes hundreds of renewable energy projects intended to boost the nation's electric grid as demand is set to rise amid sharp growth from data centers, artificial intelligence and other uses, they said.
"This isn't oversight. It's obstruction that will needlessly harm the fastest growing sources of electric power,'' said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group. He called the move 'particularly confounding' as lawmakers in both parties seek to streamline permitting for all sources of American energy.
'Level the playing field'
The Interior Department said Thursday that Burgum's order will 'level the playing field for dispatchable, cost-effective and secure energy sources,' such as coal and natural gas 'after years of assault under the previous administration.″
'American energy dominance is driven by U.S.-based production of reliable baseload energy, not regulatory favoritism towards unreliable energy projects that are solely dependent on taxpayer subsidies and foreign-sourced equipment,' said Adam Suess, the acting assistant secretary for lands and minerals management.
While Democrats complain the tax law will make it harder to get renewable energy to the electric grid, Republicans say it supports production of traditional energy sources such as oil, gas and coal, as well as nuclear power, increasing reliability.
In the Senate compromise, wind and solar projects that begin construction within a year of the law's enactment are allowed to get a full tax credit without a deadline for when the projects are 'placed in service,″ or plugged into the grid. Wind and solar projects that begin later must be placed in service by the end of 2027 to get a credit.
The law retains incentives for technologies such as advanced nuclear, geothermal and hydropower through 2032.
About 10% of new solar power capacity under development is on federal lands, said Sylvia Leyva Martínez, a principal analyst at the Wood Mackenzie research firm. Those projects could be delayed or canceled if Burgum does not issue permits for them, she said. Related projects such as transmission lines could be affected, too, she said.
While only about 1% of the combined capacity of pending wind projects is on federal lands, delays could affect nearby infrastructure that supports renewable projects, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Diego Espinosa.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
4 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sentencing hearing set for ex-Kentucky officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge prepared Monday afternoon to sentence an ex-Kentucky police officer convicted of using excessive force during the deadly Breonna Taylor raid, days after the U.S. Justice Department recommended he receive no prison time in the Black woman's fatal shooting. Brett Hankison fired his weapon the night of the March 2020 botched drug raid. His shots didn't hit or injure anyone, though they flew through Taylor's walls into a neighboring apartment. The 26-year-old's death, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide that year. Though the sentence could amount to several years, if U.S. District Judge Grady Jennings heeds the Justice Department's request, it would mean none of the Louisville police officers involved in the raid would face prison time. Last week, the U.S. Justice Department recommended no prison time for Hankison, an abrupt about-face by federal prosecutors that has angered critics after the department spent years prosecuting the former detective. The Justice Department, which has changed leadership under President Donald Trump since Hankison's conviction, said in a sentencing memo last week that 'there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public' from Hankison. Federal prosecutors suggested time already served, which amounts to one day, and three years of supervised probation. Prosecutors at his previous federal trials aggressively pursued a conviction against Hankison, 49, arguing that he blindly fired 10 shots into Taylor's windows without identifying a target. Taylor was shot in her hallway by two other officers after her boyfriend fired from inside the apartment, striking an officer in the leg. Neither of the other officers was charged in state or federal court after prosecutors deemed they were justified in returning fire into the apartment. Louisville police used a drug warrant to enter the apartment, but found no drugs or cash inside. A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison in 2023, and he was acquitted on state charges of wanton endangerment in 2022. In their recent sentencing memo, federal prosecutors wrote that though Hankison's 'response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant's fellow officers, or anyone else.' Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor's family secure a $12 million wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville, has called the Justice Department recommendation 'an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision' and said in a social media statement that it 'sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity.' A U.S. Probation Office presentencing report said Hankison should face a range of 135 to 168 months imprisonment on the excessive force conviction, according to the memo. But federal prosecutors said multiple factors — including that Hankison's two other trials ended with no convictions — should greatly reduce the potential punishment. The memorandum was submitted by Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and a Trump political appointee who in May moved to cancel settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis that had called for overhauling their police departments. In the Taylor case, three other ex-Louisville police officers have been charged with crafting a falsified warrant, but have not gone to trial. None were at the scene when Taylor was shot.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Minnesota lawmaker to resign after being convicted of felony burglary
A Minnesota state senator convicted of burglary for breaking into her estranged stepmother's house plans to resign by early August, her lawyer said Monday. Democratic state Sen. Nicole Mitchell has faced calls from fellow Minnesota lawmakers for her immediate resignation since her conviction on Friday. The jury deliberated for three hours before finding her guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. The 51-year-old lawmaker needs two weeks to wrap up her legislative duties and secure health insurance for her son by the time of her Aug. 4 resignation, her lawyer wrote in the statement. Mitchell represents a Democratic-leaning suburban district outside the Twin Cities in a closely divided state Senate. After the verdict last week, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy Mitchell said that Mitchell told colleagues that she planned to resign if convicted, 'and I expect her to follow through on that pledge.' Senate Republic Leader Mark Johnson released a statement Monday pushing for Mitchell to resign immediately instead of waiting two weeks. 'Senator Mitchell was convicted of two felonies; she doesn't get to give the Senate two weeks' notice,' he wrote in a statement Monday. 'The only reason Mitchell is still in office is because Democrats needed her vote to pass their agenda and refused to hold her accountable during session.' Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024, and told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because the stepmother refused to give her items like her late father's ashes and other belongings. Mitchell's father and stepmother Carol Mitchell had been married for 40 years. Later on the stand, the lawmaker backtracked her statement and said she had not intended to take anything and wanted to check on the well-being of her stepmother, who has Alzheimer's disease.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Milan's mayor denies wrongdoing in a corruption probe into the city's construction boom
MILAN (AP) — Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala on Monday said he would not step down in the face of a sweeping probe into the city's massive urban development over the last two decades, saying, 'My hands are clean.' The city's top urban development official, however, resigned while denying wrongdoing. Milan prosecutors last week announced a widespread investigation into the real estate boom that has seen skyscrapers transform the city's skyline and entire neighborhoods rebuilt, including the construction of an Olympic village for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
