The US Is Finally Reigning In The Onshore Wind Industry
Last month, Heatmap News, a relentless cheerleader for the solar and wind sectors, ran an article headlined, “Trump Is Getting Away With Murdering an American Industry”
The article lamented that dozens of proposed wind projects with 30 gigawatts of generation capacity are now stranded because the Trump administration is deliberately slow-walking — or just ignoring — Big Wind’s permit applications.
It is actually the Federal Aviation Administration that is doing the slow walking. The FAA is charged with assuring aviation safety.
As such, it must provide a “no hazard” determination for any structure over 200 feet tall and ensure that those structures won’t interfere with civilian or military aviation.
In previous administrations, the agency has routinely issued clearances for wind turbines, that can stand 500 feet tall or even taller. No longer.
Last month, the War (Defense) Department told a reporter from the Associated Press that it “intends to complete review” of all of the wind industry’s applications “efficiently without compromising the integrity of the review.”
In other words, the Trump administration is telling Big Wind: “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
The administration’s delay tactic is coming at a key moment. If wind developers can’t demonstrate that they are making significant progress on their projects by July 4, they are unlikely to qualify for the production tax credit, the federal subsidy that has been fueling wind energy development for decades.
(Earlier this month, a federal court judge ruled that the Trump administration has to justify the halting of the subsidies. But that ruling can’t force the War Department to speed up its review.)
The Heatmap News article dutifully quoted an unnamed “energy lawyer” who whined that the Trump administration has created an “uninvestable climate.” Meanwhile, Jason Grumet, who heads the American Clean Power Association (2025 revenue: $67.5 million), moaned to the New York Times that it has become “impossible to build a new wind project” in the US.
Well, cry me a f***ing river.
I’m a long-time critic of the wind industry, and proudly so. Over the past 16 years, I’ve watched Big Wind collect tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies while trying to bully individuals and rural communities across the US into accepting wind projects they don’t want.
And now that Big Wind is getting reigned in, I couldn’t be happier.
You should be happy, too.
See more here substack.com
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very old white guy
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The constant stupidity of pushing wind and solar never ceases to amaze me that so many people are really that stupid, they believe these useless pieces of equipment will save the planet and humanity. They have been and are a complete waste of the resources required to build them.
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