Why is Trump paying to stop wind farms?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Why is Trump paying to stop wind farms?"

Podcast: The Indicator from Planet Money (NPR)
Episode Date: August 10, 2026
Hosts: Waylon Wong, Nate Hedge
Main Guest: Severin Borenstein (Faculty Director, Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business)
Special Appearance: Jason Grumey (CEO, American Clean Power Association)
Notable Subject: Statements from Donald Trump, energy companies
Length: ~10 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode explores an unusual move by the Trump administration: paying energy companies billions to not build offshore wind farms. Instead of prohibiting wind projects through legal bans, the current White House is using taxpayer dollars to buy out existing offshore wind leases—an approach with major implications for US energy policy, costs, and climate efforts. The hosts and guests break down what’s driving this novel strategy, its roots in Trump’s longstanding aversion to wind power, and its potential short- and long-term economic impacts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Personal War on Wind Power

• Historic Grudge: Trump’s dislike of wind farms dates to his Scottish golf course, which was nearly built near a planned offshore wind farm he felt would ruin the view.
  • Trump quote: “Stop the windmills. You’re ruining your countries… killing your birds. And if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans.” (Donald Trump, 02:53)
• He continues to criticize wind energy on environmental (often exaggerated) and aesthetic grounds.

2. The US Government’s Buyout Strategy

• Financial Incentive Over Legal Blocks:
  • Initial Trump attempts to halt wind development—like executive orders or citing national security/interference with military radar—were repeatedly thrown out by courts due to lack of evidence.
  • Instead, the White House now offers enormous buyouts:
    • Example: Duke Energy canceled its North Carolina project for $129 million (01:12)
    • In total, Trump’s administration has committed over $2.7 billion to cancel nine offshore wind leases originally granted under Biden (05:04).
• How It Works:
  • These buyouts return most (sometimes not all) of what companies paid for their leases.
  • Some companies accept losses, seeing little chance of projects proceeding under current policies (05:19).

3. Economic and Environmental Ramifications

• Redirection of Investment:
  • At least one company, TotalEnergies, is reinvesting its buyout into a Texas natural gas plant instead; critics call this a climate setback (05:32).
  • Borenstein: “We know that [natural gas plants] put out significant greenhouse gases and other pollution… investing in a technology that is not likely to be the future” (05:50).
• Offshore Wind’s Potential:
  • Offshore wind, though expensive upfront, is considered more reliable than onshore wind due to steadier sea breezes (06:42).
  • Lost opportunity: Without investment and federal support, offshore wind’s growth and cost reductions stall, jeopardizing the US’s clean energy trajectory (07:10).
• Impact on Cost and Jobs:
  • Senate Democrats’ investigation: Canceled projects would have “powered millions of homes and created tens of thousands of jobs” (07:22).
  • Jason Grumey, representing clean power providers, warns obstructing renewables leads to “skyrocketing” prices, forcing eventual policy reversal (07:42).
  • Grumey: “If the administration obstructs the… economic reality of American energy, you’re going to see prices skyrocket, at which point they'll have to back down. It’s just a question of how much unnecessary harm happens to consumers in the economy while they figure this out.” (Jason Grumey, 07:42)

4. Historical Uniqueness & Legal Aftermath

• Novelty:
  • Direct buyouts to suppress energy development are “extremely unusual” in American history, contrasting with the familiar tools of bans and moratoriums (06:13).
• Legal Challenge:
  • Multiple states and NGOs have already sued to contest the buyouts and attempt to save the offshore wind industry (09:54).

5. Future Implications

• Short- vs. Long-term Effects:
  • Immediate pain likely muted since most offshore wind farms aren’t operational yet; the real effect will be felt years down the line as electricity demand grows—especially if projections about new data centers hold true (09:00).
  • Borenstein: “Bottom line, it’s unfortunate not to have this as one more quiver in our arsenal to fight climate change and to grow our electricity supply.” (09:43)

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Notable Quotes

• Donald Trump (02:53):
  “Stop the windmills. You’re ruining your countries. I really mean it. It’s so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds. And if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans.”
• Severin Borenstein (06:13):
  “…spending federal money to take away these rights or to buy out these rights is extremely unusual.”
• Severin Borenstein (07:10):
  “I think the people who say, oh, no, renewables… have such momentum now, there’s nothing you can do to slow it down, are really not looking at the facts.”
• Jason Grumey (07:42):
  “If the administration obstructs the… economic reality of American energy, you’re going to see prices skyrocket, at which point they'll have to back down. It’s just a question of how much unnecessary harm happens to consumers in the economy while they figure this out.”
• Severin Borenstein (09:43):
  “…it’s unfortunate not to have this as one more quiver in our arsenal to fight climate change and to grow our electricity supply.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Trump’s personal animosity toward wind (Scotland origin): 02:31–03:10
• Legal attempts to block wind farms; shift to buyouts: 04:17–05:19
• Total buyout figures and company reactions: 05:04–05:32
• Natural gas vs. wind; climate impact: 05:32–06:13
• Economic, job, and price implications: 07:10–08:41
• Long-term implications for grid/demand: 09:00–09:54
• Legal challenges and wrap-up: 09:54–10:23

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Tone & Style

• The episode maintains NPR’s classic informative and conversational tone.
• Waylon Wong guides the discussion with curiosity and humor, and Nate Hedge provides deeper policy context.
• Expert Severin Borenstein cuts through political rhetoric with data and context, offering a measured but concerned perspective.
• The conversation remains fact-driven, highlighting both political motivations and market realities.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This quick-hit, insightful episode unpacks why the federal government is now paying billions to halt clean energy instead of simply blocking it—and why the ultimate costs to America could be far higher than the price tags on canceled wind leases.

No ads or housekeeping included in this summary; focus is purely on the substantive content of the episode.

Transcript

[Jason Grumey]

Npr.

[Waylon Wong]

This is the Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong here with friend of the show and host of the public radio podcast Outside In, Nate Hedge. Hey, Nate.

[Nate Hedge]

Hey, Waylon. It's great to be back.

[Waylon Wong]

What do you got today?

[Nate Hedge]

First, I've got a question for you. If the government doesn't want more of something, what does it normally do?

[Waylon Wong]

Pass a law against it. Like a ban or a moratorium?

[Nate Hedge]

Yeah, exactly. Remember Biden putting a moratorium on offshore oil gas drilling? Or when former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg banned big sodas.

[Severin Borenstein]

Remember that?

[Waylon Wong]

Oh, yeah. I wasn't living there at the time, but it was national news. Did it end up sticking?

[Nate Hedge]

No, it did not. I looked it up recently. Did not stick. Did not stick. Well, anyways, Trump has been doing something unusual. Instead of bans and moratoriums, he is opening the checkbook. His administration will be paying energy firms billions of dollars to completely walk away from wind farms. The latest casualty is a proposed offshore wind farm in North Carolina. U.S. company Duke Energy agreed to $129 million buyout from the White House to abandon its plans to build it.

[Waylon Wong]

Today on the show, why is the federal government paying companies to not build things? And what does it mean for our energy bills? Stay tuned.

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[Waylon Wong]

President Trump's beef with wind farms is personal. It goes back nearly two decades to when he began building what he called the world's greatest golf course in Scotland.

[Nate Hedge]

But there were also plans to build an offshore wind farm nearby, and Trump was not happy, mainly because he thought the would ruin the view. And he still hates the way they look today. Last summer, when he was visiting Europe, he said this to reporters.

[Donald Trump]

Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries. I really mean it. It's so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds. And if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans.

[Severin Borenstein]

He has, from the very beginning of his political life, railed against wind power in general, saying many things that aren't true and many things that have a grain of truth.

[Waylon Wong]

That's Severin Borenstein. He's the faculty director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He points out that wind farms do have some environmental impacts.

[Severin Borenstein]

They bother some people. They have killed birds. When you put that in the context of what most other energy sources do, it's pretty minimal.

[Nate Hedge]

I should also say that they are a problem for bats, too.

[Waylon Wong]

Bats? I thought bats just were in their caves all the time.

[Severin Borenstein]

No, no.

[Nate Hedge]

They're flying around, getting hit by. By windmills.

[Waylon Wong]

Like the wind. Is it like they can't detect where the. The windmills are?

[Nate Hedge]

That's such a great question.

[Waylon Wong]

I'm so concerned about bats. Okay, I got to put a pin in this. Otherwise, we'll never finish this episode. Since President Trump got back into office last year, his administration has tried a few aggressive tactics to stop new wind farms. First, there was an executive order halting permits for new wind farm lands and waters that was shot down by the courts in December.

[Nate Hedge]

The administration also tried halting new projects, citing national security concerns. They've made an argument that the farms interfere with military radar.

[Severin Borenstein]

But there really isn't much evidence supporting those claims, and judges, when faced with those claims, have generally rejected them. So they haven't been very successful in making a real case that there's a problem.

[Waylon Wong]

In fact, wind farms have been operating across Europe and Asia for decades with no significant problems. So none of this was really working until the Trump administration found a workaround opening the checkbook. It has agreed to spend more than $2.7 billion to buy out and cancel nine large offshore wind leases. The leases were originally awarded by the Biden administration back in 2022.

[Nate Hedge]

None of these wind farms were actively being built when Trump offered the money. Instead, his administration was buying back the rights to build those farms on sections of federal waters. While many of the companies are getting a full reimbursement for what they paid for the leases, a couple aren't.

[Severin Borenstein]

So they're losing money on the resale back to the federal government. And that obviously reflects the fact that they think that the future for these projects, at least under this administration, is pretty bleak.

[Waylon Wong]

At least one company has said as much. In a press Release, French company TotalEnergies argued that wind projects aren't in the US's interest anymore. And as part of its agreement with the Trump administration, it's reinvesting that money into a major natural gas plant in Brownsville, Texas. Severin says this is misguided.

[Severin Borenstein]

We know that they put out significant greenhouse gases and other pollution, and so I think that that's really investing in a technology that is not likely to be the future.

[Nate Hedge]

This idea of essentially subsidizing scarcity by paying firms not to develop energy projects is pretty novel in American history. I mean, bans and moratoriums, sure, but

[Severin Borenstein]

actually spending federal money to take away these rights or to buy out these rights is extremely unusual.

[Nate Hedge]

We reached out to the White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said the administration is, quote, simply returning the money that companies bid on offshore wind projects that are unable to be built due to national security concerns, end quote.

[Waylon Wong]

Those security concerns that did not convince any judges.

[Nate Hedge]

Yeah, exactly. Those security concerns.

[Waylon Wong]

I see. Well, Severin says that this is actually going to have a pretty big impact on the development of offshore wind, which here in the US is still a nascent energy source. And that's a shame, he says, because offshore wind is actually more reliable than onshore wind. Wind speeds over the sea are generally faster and steadier, but it needs a lot of investment in the beginning to help bring prices down. And without that, offshore wind in the US will continue to be very expensive and not as widely adopted.

[Severin Borenstein]

I'm quite concerned about this. I think the people who say, oh, no, renewables, it has such momentum now, there's nothing you can do to slow it down, are really not looking at the facts.

[Nate Hedge]

Senate Democrats have railed against Trump's plan. An investigation they held found that these projects would have powered millions of homes and created tens of thousands of jobs. The renewables energy industry is also worried. But the pain of these attacks on wind could be temporary. That's according to Jason Grumey, the CEO of the trade group the American Clean Power association.

[Jason Grumey]

You know, 90% of all of the new electricity is added to our nation's electricity grid over the last few years has come from clean sources. And if the administration obstructs the kind of, you know, economic reality of American energy, you're going to see prices skyrocket, at which point they'll have to back down. It's just a question of how much unnecessary harm happens to consumers in the economy while they figure this out.

[Waylon Wong]

Jason actually sees similarities to when Biden cracked on an oil and gas during his term as president. Then the full scale invasion of Ukraine

[Jason Grumey]

happened, gasoline prices shot up, and then they went to Houston and said, please drill more. You know, I think we're expecting some version of the same thing will happen if the Trump administration actually intentionally drives up American energy bills. You know, at this moment, when gasoline prices are spiking because of the war in Iran, you know, the idea that we would be blockading domestic American energy at the same time is pretty hard to, pretty hard to fathom.

[Nate Hedge]

And either way, Severin Borenstein, the energy expert, doesn't think the economic pain of these buyouts will be that immediate, mainly because unlike oil and gas, these offshore wind farms aren't woven into the economy right now and it would take years to get them built and connected to the grid. This, he says, will be a future problem.

[Severin Borenstein]

What the demand growth situation will be like five or ten years from now when we would start to see some of this offshore winds connect, is murkier. I know there are these forecasts of astronomical growth between now and 2035 due to data centers, but I think that there's huge uncertainty and the really aggressive forecasts are coming from people and companies that have a pretty strong incentive to put that narrative out there because they want to make sure that the power is available when they actually build their data centers.

[Nate Hedge]

But he says, bottom line, it's unfortunate

[Severin Borenstein]

not to have this as one more quiver in our arsenal to fight climate change and to grow our electricity supply.

[Waylon Wong]

Multiple states and NGOs have sued to try and stop the buyouts. So we'll see if Trump's latest attempts to collapse America's wind power industry by subsidizing scarcity, which will actually work. This episode was produced by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact checked by Tyler Jones. Cake and Cannon edits the show and the indicator is a production of npr.

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