17-07-2025
Trump administration taking new steps to block wind and solar projects, undisclosed memo says
Gregory Wischer, Interior's deputy chief of staff for policy, wrote in the memo that 'all decisions, actions, consultations, and other undertakings — including but not limited to the following — related to wind and solar energy facilities' require Burgum's review. The actions triggering Burgum's attention span cradle to grave aspects of project development, ranging from scoping reports to access road authorizations to cost recovery agreements.
Wischer said in the memo the steps are necessary to align with various Trump administration executive orders, including the president's Inauguration Day declaration of a national energy emergency that called on steering federal resources to produce more energy — but did not define wind and solar as energy sources.
'Let's be clear: leaking internal documents to the media is cowardly, dishonest, and a blatant violation of professional standards,' Interior said in a response to a request for comment on the memo. 'It shows a complete lack of respect for the people working hard to serve the American public.'
Eric Beightel, former executive director of the Federal Permitting Council under President Joe Biden, said the directive would definitely slow down approvals for these renewable energy projects.
'It absolutely will create so much bureaucratic process that no solar or wind projects are likely to move in a timely and efficient manner, if at all,' he said. 'For an administration so focused on eliminating unnecessary roadblocks, this is a clear attempt to use 'the process' to kill projects.'
The Interior memo said its actions were also intended to align agency policy with Trump's executive order earlier this month to 'strictly enforce' the wind and solar tax credit phaseouts in the megalaw, including by potentially rewriting long-standing rules that define when a project is considered to have started construction.
