Latest news with #federallands
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BP abandons US wind farms as Trump shuns green energy
BP is selling its US wind farm business as Donald Trump steps up his attacks on green energy. The FTSE 100 oil company said New York-based LS Power would buy BP Wind Energy North America, which has 10 operating onshore wind farms across the country. The move is part of BP's plans to pivot back to its core oil and gas business in the hope of boosting its share price. The company has come under intense pressure from shareholders, including activist Elliott Adviers, to improve performance. The exit from US wind also comes amid President Trump's latest assault on the renewables industry. This week he announced that decisions related to solar and wind energy projects on federal lands will in future have to be approved by interior secretary Doug Burgum. President Trump said the aim was to end what he calls preferential treatment for renewable energy sources, in line with his pledge to undo the clean energy and climate change policies of former president Joe Biden. 'Today's actions further deliver on President Trump's promise to tackle the green new scam and protect the American taxpayers' dollars,' Adam Suess, acting assistant secretary for lands and minerals management, said on Thursday. Mr Trump has long been critical of turbines, derisively calling them 'windmills'. He said in 2019: 'I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They're noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill someday. You'll see more birds than you've ever seen in your life.' In 2023, he said: 'Windmills are causing whales to die in numbers never seen before. No one does anything about that.' Earlier this week, Mr Trump told the BBC that Aberdeen was 'the oil capital of Europe' and should 'get rid of the windmills'. Market responds positively to wind exit BP's move will therefore be seen as politically astute as well as fitting with its plan to divest $20bn worth of assets by 2027. Its shares rose by about 2pc soon after the Friday morning announcement. The US deal is expected to conclude by the end of the year, with BP suggesting it will have divested itself of $3-4bn of assets by then, with $1.5bn signed or completed to that date. Earlier this month it agreed to sell its 300 Dutch petrol stations to Dutch fuel distribution and trading company Catom by the end of this year. It sold its Turkish petrol station network in 2023 and a sale process for its Austrian retail network is ongoing. William Lin, BP vice-president for gas & low carbon energy, said: 'The onshore US wind business has great assets and fantastic people, but we have concluded we are no longer the best owners to take it forward. 'I am pleased we have reached a mutually beneficial deal with LS Power and I look forward to working with them to support our people in maintaining safe and reliable operations as we transition ownership.' Paul Segal, chief executive of LS Power, said: 'These new assets will expand our renewable energy presence and help to meet growing energy demand across the US.' Solar and wind accounted for the vast majority of new electricity generation added to the US grid last year despite President Trump's claims that they are unreliable and expensive. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
E&E News
5 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Interior's new solar, wind policy sparks concerns of ‘shadow ban'
A new policy requiring the Interior secretary to approve all aspects of solar and wind project permitting has opened the floodgates for critics who say it's the clearest signal yet that green energy is not part of President Donald Trump's energy dominance agenda. It has also prompted pushback from supporters who say the new policy is a long-overdue move to level the regulatory playing field following four years of the Biden administration prioritizing renewable energy development on federal lands. Prominent Democrats, conservation groups and renewable energy trade groups all bashed the new policy, outlined in an Interior Department memorandum that directs the Interior secretary to review everything from the initial decision to begin a formal evaluation of a solar or wind project application, to the issuance of a record of decision approving it. Advertisement The Trump administration, in formally announcing the new policy Thursday, said it complies with a handful of presidential orders signed by Trump that are designed to reduce barriers to energy production. It also will help ensure projects conform with the administration's energy policies and goals.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
BP abandons US wind farms as Trump shuns green energy
BP is selling its US wind farm business as Donald Trump steps up his attacks on green energy. The FTSE 100 oil company said New York-based LS Power would buy BP Wind Energy North America, which has 10 operating onshore wind farms across the country. The move is part of BP's plans to pivot back to its core oil and gas business in the hope of boosting its share price. The company has come under intense pressure from shareholders, including activist Elliott Adviers, to improve performance. The exit from US wind also comes amid President Trump's latest assault on the renewables industry. This week he announced that decisions related to solar and wind energy projects on federal lands will in future have to be approved by interior secretary Doug Burgum. President Trump said the aim was to end what he calls preferential treatment for renewable energy sources, in line with his pledge to undo the clean energy and climate change policies of former president Joe Biden. 'Today's actions further deliver on President Trump's promise to tackle the green new scam and protect the American taxpayers' dollars,' Adam Suess, acting assistant secretary for lands and minerals management, said on Thursday. Mr Trump has long been critical of turbines, derisively calling them 'windmills'. He said in 2019: 'I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They're noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill someday. You'll see more birds than you've ever seen in your life.' In 2023, he said: 'Windmills are causing whales to die in numbers never seen before. No one does anything about that.' Earlier this week, Mr Trump told the BBC that Aberdeen was 'the oil capital of Europe' and should 'get rid of the windmills'. Market responds positively to wind exit BP's move will therefore be seen as politically astute as well as fitting with its plan to divest $20bn worth of assets by 2027. Its shares rose by about 2pc soon after the Friday morning announcement. The US deal is expected to conclude by the end of the year, with BP suggesting it will have divested itself of $3-4bn of assets by then, with $1.5bn signed or completed to that date. Earlier this month it agreed to sell its 300 Dutch petrol stations to Dutch fuel distribution and trading company Catom by the end of this year. It sold its Turkish petrol station network in 2023 and a sale process for its Austrian retail network is ongoing. William Lin, BP vice-president for gas & low carbon energy, said: 'The onshore US wind business has great assets and fantastic people, but we have concluded we are no longer the best owners to take it forward. 'I am pleased we have reached a mutually beneficial deal with LS Power and I look forward to working with them to support our people in maintaining safe and reliable operations as we transition ownership.' Paul Segal, chief executive of LS Power, said: 'These new assets will expand our renewable energy presence and help to meet growing energy demand across the US.'
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Interior Secretary Burgum must personally approve all wind and solar projects, a new order says
WASHINGTON — All solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters must be personally approved by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum under a new order that authorizes him to conduct 'elevated review' of activities ranging from leases to rights of way, construction and operational plans, grants and biological opinions. The enhanced oversight on clean-energy projects is aimed at 'ending preferential treatment for unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy,' the Interior Department said in a statement Thursday. The order 'will ensure all evaluations are thorough and deliberative' on potential projects on millions of acres of federal lands and offshore areas, the department said. Clean-energy advocates said the action could hamstring projects that need to be underway quickly to qualify for federal tax credits that are set to expire under the tax-cut and spending bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4. The law phases out credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy while enhancing federal support for fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. 'At a time when energy demand is skyrocketing, adding more layers of bureaucracy and red tape for energy projects at the Interior Department is exactly the wrong approach,'' said Stephanie Bosh, senior vice president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. 'There's no question this directive is going to make it harder to maintain our global (artificial intelligence) leadership and achieve energy independence here at home.'' In the legislation, Trump and GOP lawmakers moved to dismantle the 2022 climate law passed by Democrats under President Joe Biden. And on July 7, Trump signed an executive order that further restricts subsidies for what he called 'expensive and unreliable energy policies from the Green New Scam.' That order was part of a deal the Republican president made with conservative House Republicans who were unhappy that the tax-cut bill did not immediately end all subsidies for clean energy. A group of Republican senators, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Utah Sen. John Curtis, had pushed to delay phaseout of some of the credits to allow currently planned projects to continue. Trump has long expressed disdain for wind power , describing it at a Cabinet meeting last week as an expensive form of energy that 'smart' countries do not use. Even with the changes approved by the Senate, the new law will likely crush growth in the wind and solar industry and lead to a spike in Americans' utility bills, Democrats and environmental groups say. The law jeopardizes hundreds of renewable energy projects intended to boost the nation's electric grid as demand is set to rise amid sharp growth from data centers, artificial intelligence and other uses, they said. 'This isn't oversight. It's obstruction that will needlessly harm the fastest growing sources of electric power,'' said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group. He called the move 'particularly confounding' as lawmakers in both parties seek to streamline permitting for all sources of American energy. The Interior Department said Thursday that Burgum's order will 'level the playing field for dispatchable, cost-effective and secure energy sources,' such as coal and natural gas 'after years of assault under the previous administration.″ '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,' said Adam Suess, the acting assistant secretary for lands and minerals management. While Democrats complain the tax law will make it harder to get renewable energy to the electric grid, Republicans say it supports production of traditional energy sources such as oil, gas and coal, as well as nuclear power, increasing reliability. In the Senate compromise, wind and solar projects that begin construction within a year of the law's enactment are allowed to get a full tax credit without a deadline for when the projects are 'placed in service,″ or plugged into the grid. Wind and solar projects that begin later must be placed in service by the end of 2027 to get a credit. The law retains incentives for technologies such as advanced nuclear, geothermal and hydropower through 2032. About 10% of new solar power capacity under development is on federal lands, said Sylvia Leyva Martínez, a principal analyst at the Wood Mackenzie research firm. Those projects could be delayed or canceled if Burgum does not issue permits for them, she said. Related projects such as transmission lines could be affected, too, she said. While only about 1% of the combined capacity of pending wind projects are on federal lands, delays could affect nearby infrastructure that supports renewable projects, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Diego Espinosa. ____ Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Interior Dept. to Put Wind and Solar Projects Through Stricter Political Review
The Trump administration said on Thursday that it would apply new layers of political review to wind and solar projects, potentially creating hurdles for renewable energy developments across the country. The Interior Department said in a memo that a wide range of agency actions related to approving new wind and solar power plants would now have to be reviewed by the office of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, instead of by lower-level agency staff. That includes more than 68 types of agency actions, including federal permits, environmental reviews, lease sales, site plans, wildlife impact assessments and numerous smaller decisions and consultations. In a statement, the agency said that the move was aimed at 'ending preferential treatment for unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy.' The broad nature of the memo could create bottlenecks and delays for a significant number of renewable energy projects, experts said. While only a relatively small fraction of wind and solar projects is built on federal lands and waters managed by the Interior Department, many projects on private lands often consult with the agency to determine whether they need federal permits to comply with wildlife protections or other laws. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
