The administration of President Donald Trump is increasingly using regulatory delays to discourage the growth of renewable energy projects, while at the same time giving fossil fuel companies years of additional time to comply with existing regulations.
Delaying tactics have proven to be a powerful tool for the administration to attack what Trump calls the "New Green Scam," in some cases without the need for time-consuming regulations that take months to finalize. And even when the legal proceedings were unsuccessful, for example, in September, a judge ruled to cancel a work stoppage order for a $4 billion offshore wind energy project called Revolution Wind, the administration was able to effectively reinstate the order a few months later, citing "classified" national security concerns.
On January 20, 2025, Trump began freezing regulations passed under former President Joe Biden hours before the start of his second term, and he has increased delays in recent months. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December postponed the introduction of restrictions on the use of methane for oil and gas producers for 18 months and gave coal-fired power plants an additional five years to comply with new wastewater treatment standards. The U.
S. Department of the Interior recently issued guidelines and directives providing for a one-year postponement of compliance with flaring regulations in relation to and[url=https://www.blm.gov/announcement/blm-extends-regulatory-deadlines-oil-and-gas-leases]an increase in the minimum amount of collateral to cover decommissioning costs.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly targeted offshore companies in 2025. wind energy projects that were built based on work stoppage orders, some of which were later cancelled by ships or in response to pipeline-related concessions.
Subsequently, U.
S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued a comprehensive[url=https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/Article/2768886]suspension of all five major offshore wind energy projects last week, citing national security concerns. And in July, Burgum began demanding his personal approval for 69 different categories of wind and solar energy reviews, with delays even for projects located on private land.
"Now we really have a question about whether American companies can go into private ownership and build something," the executive director of the American Association of Clean Energy said in October.
