U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is continuing its campaign to end wind energy development through a series of executive orders, lawsuits, and lease buybacks. This is despite a recent court defeat and its own Department of Energy estimating the country could be powered by wind alone.
Trump has made no secret of his disdain for renewable energy. “We don’t want wind, and we don’t want solar because they’re a blight on our country,” he said in 2025.
On the first day of his second term, Jan. 20, 2025, Trump issued a presidential action to remove leasing opportunities for all new and renewed offshore wind projects. He also directed the government to “conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.”
In response, attorneys general from 17 states successfully sued the administration. A district court ruled the government’s action was “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.”
The administration appealed, but on June 10, the Department of Justice filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals did so on June 15.
