Trump seeks 'no windmills' policy, sparking pushback

President-elect Donald Trump said his incoming administration will seek to stop development of new wind farms across the US, ratcheting up his rhetoric in opposition to the nation's largest source of renewable energy less than two weeks before his inauguration.

"We're going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built," Trump said Jan. 7 during a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.

The president-elect characterized wind as "the most expensive energy there is" that survives on "massive subsidies from the US government" -- contrasting with analyses showing wind among the least-expensive resources, with or without federal tax incentives.

Trump blasted both onshore and offshore wind farms, going beyond his campaign trail pledge to issue a day-one executive order to block offshore projects. The president-elect did not specify his policy approach, however, and his transition team did not immediately respond to emailed questions asking for details.

Analysts have flagged the possibility of significant cuts to core clean energy tax incentives embedded in President Joe Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act as Republicans seek to raise revenue for an extension of Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Industry observers and participants also have pointed to Trump's mixed views on renewables and the need for a broad portfolio of new resources to help meet surging demand for power.

"Whether it's withdrawing offshore oil and gas resources from development or threatening policies that harm wind energy, American presidents shouldn't be taking American resources away from the American people," Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, said Jan. 7 in an emailed statement.

One day before Trump's comments on offshore wind, Biden issued an order restricting oil and gas development in US coastal waters.

"At a time of skyrocketing energy demand, our leaders must mean it when they express support for an all of the above energy strategy," Grumet added.

The clean energy group released a report in December 2024 that found Inflation Reduction Act energy tax incentives would result in a 4x return on taxpayer investment and create millions of jobs, largely in states that voted for Trump.

'Hard to know where to start'

In response to Trump's comments, Adam Goldwyn, chair of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party, called on the wind-rich state's congressional delegation to push back.

"He's not even president yet, and Donald Trump is already putting the livelihoods of hundreds of North Dakotans at risk by demanding that the important work they do be completely stopped," Goldwyn said in a statement, pointing to wind turbine service technicians as the single-fastest growing occupation in the US. "Barring North Dakota landowners from building wind turbines would block them from potentially life-changing income and trample on their freedoms."

Government and wind industry officials in blue states, meanwhile, are bracing to defend their climate and renewable energy policies against any actions from the incoming administration.

"Aside from Trump's possible attempt to reverse the federal incentives, I will trust that California's commitment to achieving its climate goals by siting new wind energy projects, and other renewable energy projects, will not be affected by our next president's views," Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Association, said in a Jan. 7 email.

Trump specifically pointed to historic wind farms outside of Palm Springs, California, as "a disaster."

"It's very expensive to take them down, and you can't do anything with them because the blades, you can't bury them because of the environmental protection," Trump said. "We'll look at that."

Rader said: "It's hard to know where to start combatting this misinformation."

Some old turbines are being recycled as developers install newer, bigger machines. The Gonzaga Ridge Wind Farm, for instance, a Scout Clean Energy LLC redevelopment project in Merced County, California, includes a plan to recycle all 378 tons of decommissioned turbine blades.

A US Energy Department report released Jan. 6 acknowledged challenges in recycling wind turbine blades and generators but found that existing US infrastructure could process 90% of the mass of decommissioned turbines.

"The US already has the ability to recycle most wind turbine materials, so achieving a fully sustainable domestic wind energy industry is well within reach," Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said in a statement.