The Interior Department imposed heightened administrative reviews and ended preferential treatment for wind and solar, citing concerns about unreliable, foreign-controlled energy. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rescinded designated offshore Wind Energy Areas. A secretarial order required federal-land energy projects to be evaluated by capacity density, measuring energy produced per acre. The agency cancelled the approved Lava Ridge Wind Project in Idaho, arguing it would harm rural communities and land. Officials sought eagle mortality data under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act from wind developers. The measures use environmental and wildlife protections to limit renewable energy deployment.
On July 17, the Interior Department announced that all wind and solar projects would have to undergo "elevated review" from department Secretary Doug Burgum's office. On July 29, Burgum ordered an end to "preferential treatment" for "unreliable, foreign controlled energy sources," specifically wind and solar. The next day, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which sits within the Interior Department, rescinded all designated Wind Energy Areas along the continental shelf.
Two days later, on August 1, Interior released a secretarial order that mandates all energy projects based on federal land be evaluated on their "capacity density," or how much energy they are able to produce per square acre. The following week, the agency ordered the cancellation of the already-approved Lava Ridge Wind Project, a proposed wind farm in Idaho, arguing that it would "harm rural communities, livelihoods and the land."
Following these moves, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to vow that the administration "will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!" What Trump and the Interior Department are doing, experts say, is using environmentalists' legal playbook against them to throttle renewable energy. Laws meant to protect and safeguard wildlife and public lands from mining, drilling
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