Overview

• The order requires Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to personally approve all solar and wind projects on federal lands and offshore waters, covering leases, rights-of-way, construction and operational plans, grants and biological opinions.
• The Interior Department says the elevated review will end preferential treatment for subsidy-dependent renewables and level the playing field for dispatchable energy sources such as coal and natural gas.
• Clean-energy advocates warn the new layers of bureaucracy could stall projects seeking to qualify for expiring federal tax credits and hamper efforts to meet rising electricity demand driven by data centers and artificial intelligence.
• Republican senators including Lisa Murkowski and John Curtis condemn the directive as undermining a bipartisan compromise and threatening the viability of ongoing and planned renewable projects.
• The elevated-review requirement aligns with the One Big Beautiful Bill’s push to phase out clean-energy subsidies and is likely to face legal challenges and further policy debates as it takes effect.