Topline
President-elect Donald Trump said the U.S. government would no longer subsidize new windmill farms and reiterated his stance that he doesn’t “want even one built” during his administration in his latest tirade against renewable energy—but Trump might not be able to block production of turbines altogether.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the … [+]
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Calling windmills “an economic and environmental disaster,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday he doesn’t “want even one built during my administration,” calling them the “most expensive energy” that only works “with massive government subsidies, which we will no longer pay.”
Trump also called for all “dead and broken” windmills to “be ripped down ASAP” and included a video about debris from a broken turbine off the coast of Nantucket littering the beach.
Trump initially proposed “a policy where no windmills are being built” earlier this month, but, as The New York Times notes, he would not be able to control what is built on private land, and he could influence but not fully dictate what is built on federal lands since companies that have already been issued permits are legally allowed to continue their projects.
What Has Trump Said About Whales And Wind Turbines?
Trump has claimed for years that windmills have a negative impact on whales, telling an audience at a rally in South Carolina in 2023 they are driving whales “crazy” and are a contributing factor in whale deaths. He said in January wind farms “obviously” kill whales. There is no evidence to support a link between whale mortalities and off-shore wind farms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, which says “vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the greatest human threats to large whales.”
Why Is Trump Opposed To Windmill Farms?
Trump, for years, tried to block an offshore wind farm from being built in view of one of his golf course projects in Scotland, but ultimately lost the legal battle in 2019 and his company was ordered to pay more than $290,000 to the Scottish government in legal fees. He’s made a number of baseless claims about what he says are harmful effects of wind turbines over the years, claiming they cause cancer, are unreliable sources of energy and lower property values. Trump is broadly opposed to President Joe Biden’s clean energy policies and has vowed to lift regulations related to U.S. oil and gas production, including a moratorium on new permits for liquefied natural gas exports and a rollback of Biden’s policies to promote electric vehicle production.
What Was Trump’s Policy On Windmill Farms During His First Term?
The Trump administration facilitated offshore wind projects during his first term, auctioning off federal waters for development. “I’m very bullish on offshore wind, and harnessing this renewable resource is a big part of the Trump Administration’s made in America energy strategy,” then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in 2019 when the U.S. announced it was auctioning off federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and California.
Further Reading
Trump Promises to End New Wind Farms (New York Times)
The story of Donald Trump’s feud with his one true nemesis: Windmills (The Washington Post)
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