New leases, construction and operation plans, grants, consultations and biological opinions are among the decisions that will face 'enhanced' review
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The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) said Thursday it was adding "enhanced oversight" of agency decisions about new wind and solar projects in an effort to end "favoritism" of these "unreliable" and "subsidy-dependent" energy systems from the previous administration.
The new directive updates review procedures that will require senior leadership at the Interior Department, including the office of the secretary, to conduct a final review of any relevant decisions, including leases, rights-of-way, construction and operation plans, grants, consultations and biological opinions.
"Today’s actions further deliver on President Trump’s promise to tackle the Green New Scam and protect the American taxpayers’ dollars," said acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Adam Suess.
"American energy dominance is driven by U.S.-based production of reliable baseload energy, not regulatory favoritism towards unreliable energy projects that are solely dependent on taxpayer subsidies and foreign-sourced equipment."
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The Trump administration is seeking to level the playing field between wind and solar energy and other forms of energy production, like coal and natural gas. (Getty Images/AP)
A source familiar with the DOI's new enhanced oversight directive said the agency had serious concerns the Biden administration gave preferential treatment for permitting to new wind and solar projects, which a DOI press release Thursday described as "unreliable" forms of energy.
The press release argued that, with the removal of "artificial advantages," the Trump administration is "leveling the playing field" for "dispatchable, cost-effective and secure energy sources, such as clean coal and domestic natural gas."
"These actions mark a return to commonsense permitting standards that support national security, grid stability and American job creation," the press release says.
A worker installs a rooftop solar panel. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
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The actions are in alignment with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month, "Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable, Foreign-Controlled Energy Sources" and other presidential directives, while also serving to implement certain provisions of the newly passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The "big, beautiful bill" provisions that the directive supports ask the Interior Department to eliminate right-of-way and capacity fee discounts for existing and future wind and solar projects, which the DOI said Thursday will end "years of subsidies for economically unviable energy development."
President Donald Trump and windmills (Getty)
"For too long, the federal government has forced American taxpayers to subsidize expensive and unreliable energy sources like wind and solar," Trump's executive order says. "The proliferation of these projects displaces affordable, reliable, dispatchable domestic energy sources, compromises our electric grid, and denigrates the beauty of our Nation’s natural landscape.
"Moreover, reliance on so-called ‘green’ subsidies threatens national security by making the United States dependent on supply chains controlled by foreign adversaries. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts to unreliable energy sources is vital to energy dominance, national security, economic growth, and the fiscal health of the Nation."
