President-elect Donald Trump wants to stop wind-farm construction under his administration, he told reporters Tuesday.
A Wyoming legislator who has long urged a cautious approach to wind-turbine construction says a pause on permitting isn’t a bad idea.
A clean-energy group consultant in the state says it is.
Trump riffed about “windmills” from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, calling the turbines economically unfeasible and harmful to wildlife, and the blades an environmental nightmare.
“We’re going to try to have a policy where no windmills are being built,” said Trump. “Nobody wants them. They’re very expensive. They don’t work without subsidy.”
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, corporations receive tax credits of 2.6 cents per kilowatt hour for wind-produced power.
“You don’t need energy that needs subsidy. Energy is a good business,” said Trump, who went on to criticize wind farms with defunct towers still standing; “rusting, rotting.”
“The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously,” Trump added.
Trump has attributed a recent sharp rise in whale deaths to wind turbines in the past as well. Numerous news agencies and scientific journals have disputed the claim.
