The Wind Energy “Con Job” Was Faltering Long Before Trump Slammed It In Scotland
On Sunday, President Trump called wind a “con job” and “the worst form of energy.” Amen to that. But solar energy is already leaving wind in the shade.
I disagree with President Trump on several issues. But when it comes to contempt for Big Wind, we are like peas in a pod. And we have been podmates for more than a decade.
I can’t find the exact date, but more than a decade ago, Trump mentioned me and an article I published in the New York Post about wind energy. He tweeted, “Great article on wind turbines by Robert Bryce in today’s @NYPost.” In another tweet, he wrote, “Robert Bryce @NYPost — Congrats on your great opinion piece on terrible wind turbines & how destructive they are. Windmills are a disaster.”
I’m pretty sure the tweets are from 2012 and that Trump was referring to my article, “Against The Wind,” in which I reported that about two dozen towns in New York had implemented rules banning or restricting wind-energy development. I explained that the European Platform Against Windfarms had 555 member organizations (today it has 1,615 members) and that I had interviewed people from all over the world who were complaining about noise pollution generated by the giant turbines. I also noted that the Copenhagen Post had reported that Dong Energy had stopped trying to site wind turbines onshore in Denmark, “following protests from residents complaining about the noise the turbines make.”
That history comes to mind because during a press conference on Sunday with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland, Trump delivered a blistering attack on the wind business, saying that it “ruins the landscape” and that it “kills the birds.” He also called it a “con job.” He’s right. Big Wind has always been a blight on landscapes, deadly for birds and bats, a grift on the grid, and a loser for taxpayers.
While I am happy to see Trump slam Big Wind, the latest data shows that wind energy is being left in the shade by new solar deployments. Indeed, here in the US and globally, solar capacity is growing far faster than wind.
Here's the proof, with two new charts.
