Trump took the opportunity of his public meeting with EU boss Ursula von der Leyen to go completely off-topic and spend a substantial amount of time ranting about wind power, of all things. See, there are nine - count 'em! - wind turbines ("windmills", as he dismissively calls them) just off-shore from his golf course, and they spoil his view. Completely oblivious of the fact that the golf course spoils the natural scenery of the area anyway, he worries about how ugly wind turbines are, and what a shame they are where they are (i.e. in a reliably windy area).
As part of the rant, Trump came out with several howlers, secure in the knowledge that no-one would contradict him, certainly not in the midst of a hugely consequential trade deal anyway. Among them:
"It's the worst form of energy, the most expensive form of energy" - In fact, wind power is one of the least expensive energy sources. It is relatively cheap to build and efficient to run, with no fuel necessary, not to mention its (carbon-free) environmental advantages. The UN estimates that wind is 53% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel, and still falling (while fossil fuel prices continue to rise). Offshore wind is a bit more expensive than onshore, but can generate huge amounts of electricity, and is still significantly cheaper than coal or gas).
"It's driving the whales loco, it's driving them crazy" - This has been a favourite trope of Trump for years now, although it's not clear why. THe US's own National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration states baldly, "There are no known links between large whatever deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities". 'Nuff said. And since when did Trump care about the mental health of whales?
"It kills the birds" - Yes, wind turbines do kill some birds, this is known. But the number of birds killed by turbines is miniscule compared to those killed by domestic cats, power lines, high-rise buildings, vehicles, pesticides, etc. Norway is starting to paint its turbines black, which results in about 70% fewer bird casualties, although they don't look as nice in my opinion.
"They are killing us" - Killing who? People? Americans? Republicans? I think we can.put that one down to poetic licence.
"Windmills will not come, it's not going to happen in the United States" - Oh, they just did! The most recent figure I can find is 90,000 (2023), with about 3,000 new ones installed each year. Production has increased steadily over the years, and wind is now the fourth largest source of electricity generation in the USA, and a major.employer.
"We will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States" - China is by far the largest producer of wind turbines globally, but second is ... USA.
"When they start to rust and rot in eight years, you can't really turn them off, you can't burn them, they won't let you bury the propellers" - Ooh, a lot to unpack there. I'm not sure where his "eight years" came from: wind turbines typically last between 20 and 30 years. And you can turn them off at any time, including at the end of their lives, using ... a switch. And no, you probably can't burn them - why would you want to do that? You can't burn a coal plant or a nuclear power station either! But they can be recycled to a large extent. The UK's National Grid estimates that 96% of a wind turbine is made of recyclable materials. Gtanted, the blades are largely made of fibreglass, which is not generally recyclable, although breakthroughs in this area are occurring, so they usually end up landfills or incinerated (i.e. buried or burned). In 2021, the European wind industry committed to reusing, recovering or recycling 100% of decomissioned wind turbine blades, and has called for a ban on sending them to landfills. New technology is being developed all the time to better re-use old blades, such as in concrete.
"They're made in China, almost all of them" - As previously mentioned, China makes more wind turbines than any other country in the world. The Scottish offshore wind farm Trump is complaining about, though, was developed by Swedish company, Vattenfall, and the manufacturer was a Danish company, Vestas. Not China. And, incidentally, there are 11 of them, not 9.
"Germany tried it, wind doesn't work, you need subsidies" - Not sure why he mentions Germany in particular, but yes, Germany is a global leader in wind power, and has seen a continuous increase in installed capacity, both onshore and offshore. Wind provides at least 24% of Germany's electricity (this is an old figure I found from 2022, it would be substantially higher today). It is on track for record approvals and installations in 2025. Like many countries, Germany used to use a system of feed-in tariffs to encourage wind energy adoption, but changed to a system of competitive auctions in 2017 in an attempt to control expansion and ensure competitive market pricing. Many new licences for offshore windfarms now receive zero subsidies.
"Some of the countries prohibit it ... they will not allow it" - while it's true that wind power has its detractors and its challenges, hardly anywhere has outright prohibited it. The only examples I can find are Poland (which, in 2018, stipulated no new wind farms until 2035, and even the scrapping of existing ones - it's unclear how that is going) and England (which instituted an effective ban on new wind farms in 2015, although that has since been weakened, and then, in 2023, lifted). Oh, and America (Trump's own executive order - almost the first thing he did on assuming power - suspended new federal offshore wind leasing pending a review, which will probably conveniently never happen, although even some of that suspension has since been walked back).
It's hard to think how Trump can have got all of this - ALL of it! - quite so completely wrong. Couldn't he just have said, "Personally, I don't really like them". Uh, I guess not.
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