President Trump said Thursday that his administration would not approve wind energy except in cases of emergency.
Trump made the comment during a speech ahead of his move to overturn California’s phaseout of gas-powered car sales.
“We’re not going to let windmills get built because we’re not going to destroy our country any further than it’s already been destroyed,” Trump said.
“You go and look at these beautiful plains and valleys, and they’re loaded up with this garbage that gets worse and worse looking with time,” Trump added, in a reference to windmills.
“We’re not going to approve windmills unless something happens that’s an emergency. I guess it could happen, but we’re not doing any of them.”
The president has long scorned wind energy, and his comments this week are not the first in opposition to new wind power. Shortly before taking office, Trump said, “We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built.”
However, his latest remarks appear to go further than the policies signaled by his administration. The president has issued an executive order halting approvals for new wind projects, but that blockage was described as “temporary.” The order stated that onshore wind would only be paused until the government completes an assessment of wind permitting practices.
It’s not clear when that assessment will be complete. The news outlet Heatmap reported this week that the administration was still not advancing wind projects.
