Trump put the brakes on offshore wind, now critics of onshore wind want to be heard too

As was expected, Trump issued a moratorium on offshore wind lease sales upon taking office. Critics of offshore wind in coastal communities organized a national network during the Biden administration, which they say ignored their concerns about impacts to whales and other marine wildlife, the viewshed and electricity rates. Ironically, while most of them are in blue states that voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Trump’s opposition to offshore wind gave them hope their concerns might be heard. 

Likewise, the land-based wind industry also has plenty of critics forming community opposition groups who feel their concerns went unheard during the Biden era. The Albany County Conservancy (ACC) in Wyoming last month sent letters to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting that federal permitting processes be suspended for a wind project near Laramie, Wyoming. 

Flipping a switch

Historically, coal mining has provided the bulk of Wyoming’s tax revenues. As coal demand declines, driven primarily by a switch to natural gas, Wyoming has sought to tap into the subsidies that often attach to renewable energy projects. 

For critics living in the wind belts of southern Wyoming — where 20 wind projects are proposed across the state in addition to those currently operating — are a major concern. Besides the impacts to the views of Wyoming’s open plains and historic sites,  say the wind industry is industrializing migratory routes of golden eagles. The ACC filed a petition in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming challenging the federal approval of the Rail Tie project, an approximately 160-turbine project planned for southeastern Albany County, and they’re considering a similar petition against the Two Rivers Wind Project. 

Anne Brande, executive director of the Albany County Conservancy, told Just the News that she is personally seeing the impacts on wildlife of wind energy in Wyoming. She goes for walks in the Boulder Ridge area of the Laramie Mountains south of Laramie where the Rail Tie wind project is planned, and she said she’s seen a rapid decline in the population of eagles. 

“I go back like 15 or 20 years, and there'd be a lot more bird activity. Gosh, it is like somebody flipped a switch,” Brande said. 

Mike Lockhart, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, has been using satellite tags to track the eagles since 2014. According to the petition against Rail Tie, Lockhart’s research found that 82% of the documented eagle deaths were human caused and 43.5% of the known deaths of tagged eagles were caused by wind turbines. This is more than vehicle collisions, hunting and electrocutions combined. 

Christi Shafer, external relations and communications for Repsol, the developer of Wind Tie, told Just the News that, although the company isn't named on the ACC's petition, it's aware of it and continuing to monitor it closely. 

"Repsol Renewables North America is proud to operate in Wyoming, where we are advancing our Rail Tie Wind Project safely and responsibly. We are committed to providing sustainable energy that benefits people and the planet, and we are confident that the approvals in place for our project meet or exceed the relevant regulatory requirements," Shafer said. 

Historical experiences

Gabriella Hoffman, policy analyst for the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), traveled to Wyoming to produce a video about Wyoming’s wind industry for part of a “Conservation Country” series on issues impacting the American West. 

The video explores other issues with wind, such as the impacts to tourism and historical sites, such as the Ames National Moment, a 60-foot granite pyramid 35 miles west of Cheyenne. The pyramid was built in 1811 to honor the Ames brothers, who were influential leaders in the construction of the transcontinental railroad. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

The pyramid sits on an open prairie that looks very much like Wyoming looked when it was built. Mary Hopkins, a retired Wyoming historic preservation officer, explains in the video that the experience visitors have when they come to the site will change as wind projects are erected around it. 

Hoffman told Just the News that across the West, the issues with the onshore wind industry are very similar as those coastal communities have with offshore wind development. 

“There's a recurring theme with onshore wind, much like offshore wind. A lot of these environmental interests love to talk a great game about pursuing clean energy, but they lean on their red state friends or red states to extract resources and transfer all that supposed clean electricity to blue states,” Hoffman said. 

A January 20 Executive Order halted the Lava Ridge wind project in land-locked Idaho. Trump’s moratorium on offshore wind also placed a moratorium on the Lava Ridge project while the Department of Interior reviews the project’s permits. The proposed wind farm had generated considerable opposition due to its proximity to a historic site. “It was literally on the boundaries of the Minidoka National Monument site where FDR put Japanese Americans in internment camps,” Hoffman said. 

Going ‘gangster’ on wind

Some legislatures in red states are pushing back against what critics call the industrialization of open spaces in the West. The Arizona Legislature is considering a bill that would be among the nation’s most restrictive, removing about 90% of the state’s land from consideration for wind energy infrastructure, according to USA Today.

Lawmakers in Oklahoma this week advanced a bill that would increase the setbacks for wind facilities from 1.5 nautical miles from any public-use or municipality owned airports, public schools and hospitals, by 0.25 miles or 2.5 times the turbine’s height — whichever is greater. 

The Idaho legislature is considering a bill, the Idaho Capital Sun reports, that would create a new tax on commercial wind turbines in the state. Idaho Rep. Ted Hill, a Republican, testified at a hearing on the bill’s introduction in February that the excise tax is so big that “we are going gangster on it and really make it hardcore.” 

The tax, according to the Sun, would be equal to $25,000 for every foot of height for any commercial wind turbine with a minimum height of 100 feet. The average height of a wind turbine in the U.S. is about 320 feet, so if the bill passes, a wind developer with a 100-turbine project in Idaho would have to pay $800 million in excise taxes. 

Hoffman: "We've moved away from climate posturing"

According to the Renewable Rejection Database, a project maintained by energy expert Robert Bryce, there have been 472 wind projects rejected in the U.S. since 2013. That includes four so far this year. 

 CFACT's Hoffman said that it’s part of a shift in thinking on energy, especially in red states where many of these projects are being built. Not only do they have more rural territory, they also typically have more business-friendly regulatory environments that are attractive to all industries. However, as local opposition grows, state lawmakers are taking notice. 

“I think some of them [red states] are reassessing their support for these projects, because it is so unpopular. We've moved away from climate posturing as a country. This administration is very keen on not having that anymore,” Hoffman said. 

Hoffman said that the best path toward cleaner energy without all the program of land-intensive wind power is nuclear. “You want a clean energy source with a low footprint, low emissions — almost zero emissions — you'd go with nuclear. It uses a fraction of the land. And it's not as ugly on the landscape,” Hoffman said.