Trump: ‘We’re going to try to have a policy where no windmills are being built’

 President-elect Trump signaled Tuesday that he would oppose all new wind energy production in his second term in remarks to reporters.

“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump said, adding “they don’t work without subsidy. … You don’t want energy that needs subsidy.” Data from the International Energy Agency indicates fossil fuel subsidies reached an all-time high in 2022, with oil subsidies increasing 85 percent. [Per unit of energy produced, wind subsidies are far greater than any other federal government energy subsidies. In terms of performance results, the subsides for wind power result in the least bang for the buck ]

The president-elect has long disparaged renewable energy and vowed to pursue policies favorable to the fossil fuel industry in his second term. He has named fracking CEO Chris Wright as Energy secretary.

However, Trump has long been a vocal detractor of wind power in particular, vowing in May to end offshore wind production by executive order “on day one.” Before his first presidential run he frequently spoke out against turbines within view of his golf course in Scotland as unsightly. He has also blamed offshore turbines for whale deaths, although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said “[t]here are no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities.”

German energy firm RWE has already suggested its timeline for a planned wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico will likely be delayed but not be canceled outright.

“The change of administration in the U.S. entails risks for the timely implementation of offshore wind projects,” RWE Chief Financial Officer Michael Müller said at a press conference in November.

Despite these factors, experts told The Hill in November that much of the momentum the renewable energy sector picked up under the Biden administration is likely to continue under Trump.

“In the next few years, there isn’t too much that the president-elect can do to slow down projects,” said David Brown, director of data firm Wood Mackenzie’s energy transition practice.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a key architect of the Inflation Reduction Act’s renewable energy tax credits, said in a statement that such a policy would increase energy costs for Americans.

“Donald Trump’s ‘no windmills’ policy is a guaranteed way to cut American energy production and increase families’ electricity bills,” he wrote. “Trump is against wind energy because he doesn’t understand our country’s energy needs and dislikes the sight of turbines near his private country clubs.”

“He is completely out of touch,” the senator added.

Donald Trump suggests policy where 'no windmills' are built

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