Interior Secretary Burgum ordered personal approval of every wind and solar permit on federal land

On July 17, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order requiring that he personally approve every solar and wind energy project on federal lands and waters, subjecting proposed leases, rights of way, construction and operational plans, grants, and biological opinions to an "elevated review." The Interior Department framed the order as correcting alleged "preferential treatment" for renewable energy under the prior administration, citing data that offshore wind produces far less energy per acre than nuclear power. Burgum said the order would help the department "better manage federal lands, minimize environmental impact, and maximize energy development" in line with President Trump's energy goals.

A coalition of regional wind and solar developers -- including RENEW Northeast, the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Renewable Northwest, the Southern Renewable Energy Association, Interwest Energy Alliance, the Clean Grid Alliance, and the Carolinas Clean Energy Business Association -- sued in Massachusetts federal court in December 2025, alleging the order's "goal and effect" was to place wind and solar into "second-class status" relative to fossil fuels and that it intentionally altered longstanding permitting processes to delay or block renewable-energy development.

Updates

2026-04-21 — Federal judge preliminarily enjoined the elevated-review order and related permitting actions [2, 3]

U.S. District Judge Denise Casper granted plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction as to five of the six challenged agency actions, including the Interior Department's elevated-review memo, finding the developers likely to succeed on their claim that the actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and would cause irreparable economic harm from permitting delays absent relief. The court found the equities and public interest favored relief and rejected the government's standing arguments; the injunction required no bond and applied only to plaintiff entities. The ruling was one of several recent court losses for the administration's efforts to slow wind and solar development.