() Wind and solar projects on United States public lands now face tougher scrutiny, after the Department of the Interior announced that all such developments will require personal approval from Secretary Doug Burgum.
The move, part of a broader shift in energy policy under President Donald Trump, adds new federal hurdles to clean energy development. Every wind or solar project seeking to build on federal land must now undergo a new review process, with Burgum personally signing off on leases, rights-of-way, construction permits, and grant approvals.
The Interior Department stated that the changes are necessary to end “preferential treatment” for what it called “unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy.” However, critics argue it will cripple the renewable energy industry at a time when energy demands are surging.
Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, a clean energy advocacy group, warned that under the new policy, the U.S. risks falling behind countries like China in renewable energy development, while rising energy costs will hit Americans already burdened by high utility bills.
“It’s really going to be the American rate payer that’s going to feel this the hardest,” she said. “We need cheap, clean energy to come onto the grid to help bring those rates down. Using red tape to strangle the clean energy industry right now is just going to raise rates and cost American consumers.”
The changes follow a spending bill signed by Trump that begins phasing out federal tax credits for renewable energy and expands support for coal and natural gas projects. Trump, a longtime critic of wind and solar, has made fossil fuel expansion a central goal of his energy policy.
