OUR DAILY THREAD: Don's Quixotic Fixation With Windmills
It's always about oil
THE SET-UP: Donald Trump fittingly closed out 2025 by posting a picture of a dead bird on the ground amidst what appears to be a wind farm.
He wrote: “Windmills are killing all of our beautiful Bald Eagles!”
Like all of his windmill-related claims and accusations, it was bullshit. In fact, it was obvious from the image that the bald eagle was not a bald eagle. The bird in question was instantly identified as a falcon … and a little sleuthing quickly pegged Israel as the location of the turbines.
Of course, the veracity of the claim matters little to Trump. Repetition, not reality, is his stock-in-trade and he’s been nothing if not repetitive when it comes to denigrating windpower—including a truly bizarre claim that windmills cause cancer. It’s true that he harbors a grudge against windmills after the Scottish government defied his wishes by locating a windfarm just offshore from one of the two golf resorts he’s acquired in the game’s birthplace.
It appears that he’s using the Presidency to exact revenge on the burgeoning windpower industry. A week prior to the bald eagle smear, he halted construction on five offshore wind projects under the guise of national security. It’s a specious claim even his reliable supporters at American Greatness cannot endorse:
The Trump administration’s renewed effort to halt offshore wind development by invoking “national security” concerns reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually strengthens and weakens American power.
National security is not advanced by restricting domestic energy production, undermining industrial capacity, or ceding technological leadership to strategic competitors like China. Yet that is precisely what efforts to block offshore wind risk doing.
Offshore wind represents one of the largest sources of untapped domestic energy in the United States. It delivers power where demand is highest, along the coasts, while revitalizing ports, expanding U.S. shipbuilding, strengthening supply chains, and creating skilled industrial jobs. These are not abstract climate aspirations. They are core components of national resilience, economic strength, and deterrence.
China understands this clearly. It is rapidly expanding offshore wind, advanced manufacturing, maritime construction, and grid-scale energy infrastructure, not because it is fashionable, but because industrial capacity underwrites military strength. The United States should not be moving in the opposite direction.
American Greatness is not alone. As Politico reported, some of Trump’s Republican allies also question his moves against windpower. Speaker Mike Johnson and Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin actively supported one of the now-halted projects. And Neil Chatterjee, who served as the chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during Trump’s first term, was notably perplexed by this latest attempt to shut down the industry. Per Politico:
“I find this to be incredibly reckless,” he wrote. “How are we going to support all the data centers? I was critical of the Biden administration for targeting fossil fuels. I am critical of this administration for targeting clean energy. Now more than ever we need it all.”
What everyone seems to be missing, though, is the reason why Trump is not only attacking windmills, but also solar power and anything that could loosely be called “green” or “renewable” or associated with the effort to mitigate climate pollution.
Trump is running a protection racket for oil. Or, more to the point, for OPEC-Plus and the Saudis who run it. And it’s working. Prior to Trump’s inauguration, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected oil and gas would reach peak demand by 2030. After less than a year of Trump redirecting or withholding funds, cancelling projects, tearing-up government initiatives and scrubbing climate science from the Executive Branch, the IEA reassessed and pushed peak demand past 2050. That’s a huge win for the Saudis and OPEC-Plus. A few more years of distributed funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) might’ve made the IEA’s prediction a reality.
We’ll never know … but we do know what happened to the IEA’s assessment after Trump used a bogus national emergency declaration to prioritize oil, gas and coal over renewables.
As George W. Bush once said, “Mission accomplished.”
Also like W, it’s not nearly the end of the story. That’s why we’ve also watched him play matchmaker between Silicon Valley’s energy-hungry purveyors of AI and the energy-glutted petrostates of the Persian Gulf. A.I. can deliver the one thing OPEC-plus needs—a long-term customer with an insatiable appetite for oil, destruction be damned. Trump’s been working non-stop to extend the life of their main export (other than Wahhabism).
And it comes none too soon.
The irony is that it may have come too late. - jp
EAST ASIA:
Asia Pacific Businesses Embrace Clean Energy As A Smart Financial And Sustainable Choice
https://solarquarter.com/2026/01/02/asia-pacific-businesses-embrace-clean-energy-as-a-smart-financial-and-sustainable-choice/
China brings the world’s first 1-GW offshore solar farm online
https://electrek.co/2025/12/30/china-brings-the-worlds-first-1-gw-offshore-solar-farm-online/
Taiwan on track to deploy 31.2 GW of solar by 2035
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/30/taiwan-on-track-to-deploy-31-2-gw-of-solar-by-2035/
Philippines’ ACEN finishes shift to 100% renewables generation
https://renewablesnow.com/news/philippines-acen-finishes-shift-to-100-percent-renewables-generation-1287397/
DOE doubles down on push for renewables, energy security
https://business.inquirer.net/566914/doe-doubles-down-in-push-for-renewables-energy-security
Philippines Says Over 1 GW of Power Capacity Added in 2025
https://www.rigzone.com/news/philippines_says_over_1_gw_of_power_capacity_added_in_2025-01-jan-2026-182663-article/
South Korea’s Coal Phase-Out Plan Transforms Global Energy Markets
https://discoveryalert.com.au/south-korea-coal-exit-strategy-energy-security-2025/
SOUTH, CENTRAL & WEST ASIA:
India sets new renewable energy record with 44.5 GW capacity addition in 2025
https://organiser.org/2025/12/30/332712/bharat/india-sets-new-renewable-energy-record-with-44-5-gw-capacity-addition-in-2025/
India Energy Storage Demand Set to Reach 230 GWh by 2030
https://discoveryalert.com.au/india-energy-storage-demand-2030-technology-market/
Big green push: Tata Power’s renewable arm executes largest ever solar project
https://www.financialexpress.com/business/news/big-green-push-tata-powers-renewable-arm-executes-largest-ever-solar-project/4092314/
Gujarat Crosses 500,000 Rooftop Solar Installations
https://www.constructionworld.in/energy-infrastructure/power-and-renewable-energy/gujarat-crosses-500000-rooftop-solar-installations/83716
India to require domestically produced solar cells for all projects from June 2026
https://energiesmedia.com/india-to-require-locally-produced-solar-cells/
India emerges as key solar supplier to US, exporting almost 97% of solar modules in FY23-25: PL Capital
https://bioenergytimes.com/india-emerges-as-key-solar-supplier-to-us-exporting-almost-97-of-solar-modules-in-fy23-25-pl-capital/
Adani Green Energy commissions 307.4 MW of renewables in India
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/01/02/adani-green-energy-commissions-307-4-mw-of-renewables-in-india/
Voltalia constructing hybrid renewables-plus-storage ‘cluster’ in Uzbekistan
https://www.energy-storage.news/voltalia-constructing-hybrid-renewables-plus-storage-cluster-in-uzbekistan/
Bahrain breaks ground on 100MW Al Dur solar plant as it chases 2035 renewables target
https://ts2.tech/en/bahrain-breaks-ground-on-100mw-al-dur-solar-plant-as-it-chases-2035-renewables-target/
AFRICA:
Egypt preparing to commission 2 GW wind project by 2026 as part of major renewables drive
https://energiesmedia.com/egypt-preparing-to-commission-2-gw-wind-project/
IRENA Report: Morocco’s Off-Grid Renewables Reach 16.9 MW
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/01/273709/irena-report-moroccos-off-grid-renewables-reach-16-9-mw/
Serengeti Energy, partner bank USD 26m for Zambian solar project
https://renewablesnow.com/news/serengeti-energy-partner-bank-usd-26m-for-zambian-solar-project-1287420/
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/climate/solar-south-africa-china.html
SOUTH AMERICA:
Renewable energy accounts for 59% of São Paulo’s energy mix.
https://en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br/energia-renovavel-garante-59-da-matriz-energetica-de-sao-paulo-phsn/
Argentina’s Genneia powers up 140 MW at solar farm in Mendoza
https://renewablesnow.com/news/argentinas-genneia-powers-up-140-mw-at-solar-farm-in-mendoza-1287422/
Argentina’s top renewables producer expands solar reach with plant start-up
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/argentinas-top-renewables-producer-expands-solar-reach-with-plant-start-up
Greenwood reaches financial close for 52MWp solar project in Colombia
https://www.pv-tech.org/greenwood-reaches-financial-close-for-52mwp-solar-project-in-colombia/
EUROPE:
Renewable energy is booming in the UK: approvals are hitting record highs and the country is accelerating a historic shift in its electricity matrix.
https://en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br/energias-renovaveis-disparam-no-reino-unido-aprovacoes-batem-recorde-e-pais-acelera-virada-historica-na-matriz-eletrica/
UK Renewables Hit Record 47% Of Power Generation In 2025
https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/industry/energy/uk-renewable-power-hits-record-high-in-2025-overtaking-gas-despite-rising-demand
Portugal’s renewables meet 68% of power demand in 2025
https://renewablesnow.com/news/portugals-renewables-meet-68-percent-of-power-demand-in-2025-1287473/
Solar Power Surges in Germany in 2025, Overtakes Lignite as Renewables Hold 56% Share of Electricity Generation, Fraunhofer ISE Data Shows
https://solarquarter.com/2026/01/02/solar-power-surges-in-germany-in-2025-overtakes-lignite-as-renewables-hold-56-share-of-electricity-generation-fraunhofer-ise-data-shows/
Spain launches €355 million renewables manufacturing programme
https://www.pv-tech.org/spain-launches-e355-million-renewables-manufacturing-programme/
Fortis kicks off construction of solar power plant in Albania
https://balkangreenenergynews.com/fortis-kicks-off-construction-of-solar-power-plant-in-albania/
Another brilliant headline!