Wind and solar power, two of the fastest-growing sources of electricity in the United States, are now facing a perfect storm of political, regulatory, and financial headwinds under the Trump administration. Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, his administration has unleashed a wave of new policies and executive actions that have brought the future of American clean energy into question—and set off a cascade of legal battles, industry turmoil, and international repercussions.
At the heart of the conflict lies a dramatic reinterpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), a century-old law designed to protect migratory birds from accidental harm. According to Bloomberg Law, both Trump administrations have sought to use the MBTA to favor the oil industry and, more recently, to target wind energy projects. The act, which bans the accidental killing (or “take”) of protected birds without federal approval, was historically enforced to hold oil and gas companies accountable for environmental harm. But the Trump administration has flipped the script, seeking to shield oil producers from liability while using the same law to scrutinize and potentially penalize wind developers.
“It’s part of this sort of reinterpretation of many statutes and regulations to target a specific industry, and loosening those regulations to favor the fossil fuel industry,” explained Nick Krakoff, senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation in New Hampshire, speaking to Bloomberg Law. The Biden administration had previously withdrawn a 2017 legal opinion that let oil companies off the hook for accidental bird deaths, but in April 2025, the Interior Department reinstated it, once again giving oil a pass while putting wind projects under the microscope.
The regulatory whiplash has not gone unnoticed. In July, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a formal review of wind turbine-related migratory bird deaths to determine whether they should be considered accidental under the MBTA. Legal experts, like Jennifer Danis of the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law, told Bloomberg Law that this approach is “the essence of ‘arbitrary and capricious,’” since the administration is simultaneously loosening rules for fossil fuels and tightening them for renewables.
These shifting policies have already triggered a wave of lawsuits. In May, New York, joined by 17 other states and the District of Columbia, sued the Trump administration in federal court, alleging that it had arbitrarily halted wind energy approvals. Susan Kraham of Earthjustice, which represents amici in the suit, predicted this is just the beginning of a “wave of lawsuits” challenging the administration’s anti-renewables moves.
Legal scholars argue that these actions are not about protecting birds or the environment, but about “disfavoring a particular sector of the energy industry while under-regulating others for reasons that are not driven by energy demand or species protection,” as Sarah Krakoff, an environmental law professor at the University of Colorado, told Bloomberg Law.
The Trump administration has also paused permits on all new wind and solar projects on public land—both onshore and offshore—since taking office, reported USA Today. President Trump has not been shy about his personal disdain for renewables, calling wind turbines “ugly” and solar farms “ridiculous,” while aggressively promoting oil, natural gas, and coal. The administration has issued a flurry of directives and executive orders, revoking at least one already-issued permit and ending subsidies for wind and solar while keeping them in place for fossil fuels. On July 15, the Department of the Interior added new layers of review for all wind and solar projects on public land, including a requirement that the secretary of the interior personally sign off on each one. Then, on July 29, another directive required that wind or solar projects being sued by opponents must be federally reviewed and could be canceled.
These moves have sent shockwaves through the industry. Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, told USA Today, “They’re canceling meetings and taking down web pages,” and called it “an unprecedented effort to weaponize bureaucracy to undermine an American industry.” Even projects on private land are not immune, as many still require some form of federal approval, which is now being stalled by the new rules. “The willingness of this administration to create political and bureaucratic barriers to private economic activity on private land is something nobody anticipated,” Grumet said.
The consequences for the renewable energy sector have been swift and severe—especially for foreign companies that invested heavily in America’s clean energy future. As reported by Canary Media, Ørsted, Europe’s largest wind energy company, revealed on August 11, 2025, that it needs $9.4 billion to complete its two remaining U.S. offshore wind projects and stay financially afloat. The Danish energy giant blamed “adverse developments” in the U.S. market, specifically singling out political risk, red tape, and tax credit changes under Trump administration policies. “What developers really need is market certainty,” Elizabeth Wilson, a wind energy expert at Dartmouth College, told Canary Media. “Trump’s presidency has brought too much risk.”
Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind project near Long Island is now more than one-third complete and slated for completion by the end of 2027, while its Revolution Wind project is 80% finished and expected to be operational by the second half of 2026. Yet, the company’s struggle to sell a stake in Sunrise Wind to outside investors—due to the political climate—means it must bear the entire financial burden itself. Other European developers have faced similar setbacks: Shell exited the Atlantic Shores project, taking a $996 million loss, and Equinor announced a $955 million impairment on its Empire Wind project after Trump tried, unsuccessfully, to cancel it. Trump’s executive order on Inauguration Day froze all offshore wind permitting and leasing, causing further delays and uncertainty.
The industry’s woes are compounded by global competition. China, for example, is rapidly expanding its wind and solar capacity, installing more clean energy in 2023 than the rest of the world combined, according to USA Today. As the U.S. stumbles, experts warn that China’s dominance in renewables could erode America’s economic and environmental leadership. “In all likelihood, the actions will strengthen China’s position as global leader,” said Julio Friedmann, an expert at Carbon Direct and former Columbia University professor.
Despite these barriers, demand for electricity in the U.S. is soaring, driven by climate change and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and data centers. Ray Long, CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, told USA Today, “We need to build more power generation now, and that includes renewable energy. The U.S. will need roughly 118 gigawatts… of new power generation in the next four years to prevent price spikes and potential shortages.” As of last year, wind and solar produced 17% of America’s electricity, and 93% of new power generation expected to come online this year was projected to come from solar, wind, or battery storage.
Yet, as the Trump administration doubles down on fossil fuels and throws up roadblocks to renewables, the U.S. risks falling further behind. Legal challenges, industry uncertainty, and global competition all point to a turbulent future for American clean energy—one that will be shaped as much by politics and policy as by technology or market forces.
The stakes, both for the industry and for the country’s energy future, have rarely been higher.
