Trump’s executive orders target electric vehicles and wind power

With two executive orders, President Donald Trump on Monday changed the trajectory of two of the fastest-growing climate-friendly technologies in the United States: electric vehicles and wind energy.

The orders targeted efforts the Biden administration had made to boost both technologies, which have gained ground in recent years in the push to decarbonize the U.S. energy market. Trump also declared that the United States would abandon the Paris Agreement, through which nations set carbon emissions reduction targets to limit global warming.

One of Trump’s executive orders revoked several climate-focused directives, particularly tailpipe emissions standards intended to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles. Throughout his campaign, Trump pledged to end the regulation, calling it then-President Joe Biden’s “electric vehicle mandate” and suggesting the rule forced consumers to buy expensive electric vehicles.

EV advocates criticized the move, with some saying it could hamper U.S. competitiveness in the global auto market.

“We suffer, we lose, we waste opportunities by taking these kinds of actions,” said Max Boykoff, director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Because then other nations will be able to step forward and fill that void. Of course, Chinese companies are already outperforming the US EV market and are willing to do more.”

The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment.

The second order temporarily halted federal approvals for lease sales of offshore wind projects in federal waters and restricted federal agencies from issuing new permits or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects. In the order, Trump suggested that wind power drives up energy costs and falsely claimed that wind turbines “may cause serious harm” by endangering marine life such as whales. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are no known links between offshore wind turbines and the deaths of large whales.

That order also drew criticism from wind energy advocates. Jason Grumet, executive director of the American Clean Energy Association, a trade organization for clean energy companies, said blocking wind power undermines Trump’s broader goal of “unleashing American energy.”

“The contradiction between the Executive Orders focused on energy is marked: while, on the one hand, the Administration seeks to reduce bureaucracy and unleash energy production, on the other it increases bureaucratic barriers, undermining national energy development and harming the American companies and workers,” Grumet said. in a statement.

Trump’s orders come amid recent growth in the adoption of electric vehicles and wind energy.

Purchases of electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for a record 20% of new car sales in the US last year, CNBC reported, and an S&P Global analysis projected that by 2030, more than 1 in 4 cars from new passengers sold worldwide will be an electric vehicle. Since 2018, sales of electric cars have increased six-fold, according to the International Energy Agency.

When it comes to wind power, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in 2023 that solar and wind power would make up the majority of the country’s new power capacity by 2050. In March and April, wind Offshore wind generated more electricity in the US than coal. At the same time, however, rising raw material costs and supply chain issues, among other macroeconomic trends, have threatened the wind energy boom, according to consulting firm McKinsey.

Wind energy (especially large turbines) has long been a target for Trump. He has repeatedly blamed offshore wind projects for the rise in whale deaths along the Atlantic coast, although most documented whale mortalities have been attributed to ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gear. Trump has also suggested that noise from wind turbines can cause cancer, although there is no evidence of such a link, and that wind turbines kill birds. This last statement is correct, although some research suggests that birds are more likely to die from hitting buildings and power lines.

Climate groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club, said the changes ordered in Trump’s executive orders threaten green job growth, even in red states like Georgia.

“It’s a short-term political choice with potential long-term economic damage,” said Zara Ahmed, vice president of policy and advisory operations at Carbon Direct, a carbon management company, referring to the executive order on electric vehicles.

Ahmed added that Trump’s regulations would not “stop the inevitable progress of the transition to clean technologies.”

In another executive order issued Monday, Trump sought to end the ability of certain states to set their own standards for electric vehicle adoption.

The order targets a federal waiver the Biden administration granted to California, which allowed the state to set stricter tailpipe pollution standards than federal limits. California’s regulation would essentially ban new gasoline-powered cars from its roads by 2032. Washington, New York and nine other states have adopted California’s rule.

Paul Cort, a former Environmental Protection Agency attorney who now works with the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, said he expects Trump’s order to be challenged in court and doesn’t think it will withstand legal challenges.

“California regulations are not just about addressing climate change. “These rules were created so California, which struggles with pollution issues, could meet its air quality and smog standards,” Cort said. “What is your legal position to say that California can’t clean its cars?”