No, Wind Farms Aren’t ‘Driving Whales Crazy’

No, Wind Farms Aren’t ‘Driving Whales Crazy’ - The New York Times

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No, Wind Farms Aren’t ‘Driving Whales Crazy’

Donald Trump has attacked President Biden’s climate and energy policies with gusto, but many of his criticisms are simply untrue.

As the South Carolina Republican primary approaches, former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner, is increasingly hammering President Biden with inaccurate statements on energy issues.

Mr. Trump — who has called climate change a “hoax,” “nonexistent” and “created by the Chinese” — rolled back more than 100 climate and environmental protections during his administration, while promoting the development of fossil fuels. He has claimed, falsely, that windmills cause cancer, that energy efficient buildings have no windows and that solar rooftops leave older people without air-conditioning in the summer.

This month, Mr. Trump has repeated many of his false claims, sometimes with new twists. Here is a closer look at three of Mr. Trump’s recent climate and energy assertions.

WHAT WAS SAID:

“I will end Joe Biden’s war on American energy, cancel his ban on exporting American natural gas, beautiful, clean natural gas.”

— Donald J. Trump at an event in North Charleston, S.C. on Feb. 14

This is false. In January, President Biden announced that he would temporarily pause approvals for permits for new liquefied natural gas export terminals until the Department of Energy conducts a study on the economic, security and climate implications of increased exports. This is not a ban; the United States continues to export more natural gas than any other nation. Even with the pause in approving new terminals, the country is still on track to nearly double its export capacity by 2027 because of projects already permitted and under construction.

Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk testified to Congress that the review would take “months,” not years, to complete.

WHAT WAS SAID:

“We are a nation whose leaders are demanding all electric cars, despite the fact that they don’t go far. They cost too much, and whose batteries are produced in China with materials only available in China when an unlimited amount of gasoline is available inexpensively in the United States, but not available in China.”

— Donald J. Trump at an event in Conway, S.C., on Feb. 10

This is misleading. There’s a lot here. But let’s start with this: No administration can mandate how many cars sold in the United States must be all electric.

President Biden signed two major laws, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, that, together, offer incentives for motorists who want to buy a new or used electric vehicle and are investing billions of dollars in electric vehicle charging stations and battery manufacturing.

The administration is also writing tough new regulations to limit the amount of pollution that can come from cars and trucks, a move it hopes will mean that two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States will be all-electric by 2032.

Mr. Trump has also falsely claimed that electric vehicles can travel 15 minutes before needing to recharge. Most electric vehicles have an average range of 250 miles on a single charge, with some models achieving twice that. According to data from Cox Automotive, the parent of Kelley Blue Book, the average price for electric cars was $53,469 in July 2023, compared with gas-powered vehicles at $48,334. Federal tax credits of up to $7,500 are available for some models of electric vehicles, lowering the price further.

Currently, two thirds of global battery cell production is in China, according to the International Energy Agency. The United States accounts for just 10 percent. China also dominates the processing of minerals required for electric vehicle batteries. The Biden administration says that will change over time as battery manufacturing with a domestic supply chain is established in the United States thanks to federal incentives.

WHAT WAS SAID:

“The windmills aren’t working, the most expensive form of energy ever.”

— Donald J. Trump at the event in North Charleston, S.C.

This is false. Mr. Trump has never hidden his animosity for windmills. He has claimed they cause cancer (they don’t), are “driving whales crazy” (no evidence of that) and spew “tremendous fumes” when they are constructed. (That’s also not accurate. According to the Energy Department, the carbon footprint of coal-fired power is nearly 90 percent greater than that of wind energy.)

Wind and solar can generate electricity more inexpensively than any other type of power plant, even without subsidies, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, the agency and other energy experts note that these estimates do not take into account other costs like the need for transmission or backup power.

It’s not clear where the claim that windmills “aren’t working” comes from. They work. According to the Department of Energy, wind is the largest source of renewable electricity generation in the United States, accounting for about 10 percent of electricity.

And in South Carolina, where Mr. Trump made the remarks, nearly 2,000 people are employed in the wind industry. Nationwide more than 120,000 Americans work in wind, according to the Department of Energy, and the industry saw a 4.4 percent rise in jobs last year over 2022.

On the other hand, it’s been a bad several months for offshore wind. Developers have canceled several large projects across the East Coast, and some big developers like Orsted are shedding jobs. That has largely been because of supply-chain woes, inflation, and soaring interest rates.

Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities. More about Lisa Friedman