Top Senate Democrats are pressing the Trump administration on more than just offshore wind as a condition for resuming permitting talks.
Last month, Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) halted bipartisan negotiations because of the Interior Department’s decision to stop construction of several offshore wind projects in the Atlantic.
On Tuesday, Heinrich said he would also continue the pause on permitting talks until Interior Secretary Doug Burgum lifts what Democrats describe as a “shadow ban” on solar energy that has stalled projects nationwide.
“There are these very pedestrian things, like rights of way, that are all landing on the secretary’s desk, and none of it’s moving,” Heinrich said. “All these electrons that we potentially could add to the grid and bring down prices are tied up on the secretary’s desk, and that is not an acceptable way of doing business.”
