Overview

• The leaked internal memo requires Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s personal signature on every wind and solar permit for projects on department-controlled lands.
• The Interior Department has not verified the memo’s validity and condemned its disclosure as a “cowardly, dishonest and a blatant violation of professional standards.”
• In 2024, wind and solar installations added over 33,000 megawatts—more than 90 percent of new U.S. generating capacity—driven by streamlined reviews and reduced fees under the prior administration.
• Since February, the department reversed Biden-era renewable restrictions and in April introduced a 28-day expedited permitting process for oil, gas and coal projects under a National Energy Emergency.
• Environmental groups have launched legal challenges against the administration’s fast-track fossil fuel approvals and warn that new political reviews and subsidy rollbacks threaten future wind and solar growth.