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The Trump administration is pausing approvals for new renewable energy projects on public lands and in public waters.
The Home Office quietly issued one order Monday that blocks activities that allow renewable development on federally owned land or offshore.
For 60 days, the government will not issue any leases, rights-of-way, contracts or “any other agreement necessary to enable the development of renewable energy.”
The directive was signed by acting Interior Secretary Walter Cruickshank, who heads the agency until Trump’s nominee Doug Burgum is confirmed by the Senate.
The order says its purpose is to implement “a specific and time-limited elevation of relevant decisions to the Department of the Interior … for the purpose of reviewing the questions of fact, law and policy they raise.”
It comes as Trump has launched an assault on wind power in particular, issuing an executive order that pause new approvals for wind. But applying the pause to renewable energies broadly is an escalation, also pausing the action of solar energy.
Despite his apparent distaste for wind, Trump has also expressed that the nation needs more energy, even issue an emergency declaration monday It is expected to promote fossil fuels, especially oil and gas, in light of the problem.
Early in his term, former President Biden halted new approvals for oil and gas on federal lands.
Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Land Protection Program, criticized Trump’s move, saying in a written statement that “blocking the fastest-growing low-cost energy sources is an odd way to respond to a” energy emergency “”.
“The real energy emergency is Donald Trump’s job-killing actions that will drive up our energy bills while lining the pockets of his rich fellow polluters,” he added.
