Trump’s Interior Secretary Just Quietly Made It Harder to Build Solar and Wind Projects — Here’s What That Means

In a move that’s already sparking outrage among environmental advocates, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has reportedly issued a directive that gives him personal control over every major solar and wind energy project on federal lands potentially bringing clean energy progress to a grinding halt.

According to a leaked internal memo obtained by POLITICO, Burgum now must sign off on every stage of wind and solar development across hundreds of millions of acres under Interior Department authority. That includes everything from site proposals to cost recovery agreements a process that could massively delay, or even derail, projects in some of America’s most energy-rich regions.

The memo wasn’t made public, but insiders confirmed its authenticity. And while the Interior Department called the leak “cowardly” and “dishonest,” critics say the real dishonesty is how this change was slipped into place without public debate.

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This isn’t happening in a vacuum. President Trump has been openly hostile toward wind and solar subsidies, and this directive lines up perfectly with his broader efforts to undercut renewable energydespite the fact that even moderate Republicans recently helped preserve some clean energy tax credits in Congress.

And here’s the kicker: Trump’s own “national energy emergency” order, issued on Inauguration Day, didn’t even count wind and solar as energy sources under its language. That alone says everything about where this administration’s priorities lie.

For Americans hoping for progress on climate and clean jobs, this memo feels like a giant step backward. One more silent move in a growing campaign to stall the country’s transition to sustainable energy.

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