Who Has Seen The Wind

The Donald hates wind turbines.

He calls them windmills, but windmills are for milling grain, pumping water, and stuff. treehugger.com

He says, “You know, I know windmills very much. I’ve studied it better than anybody.”

He also says he’s never understood them.

He calls them noisy.

He claims they are killing many bald eagles.

He thinks they are ugly. youtube.com

He believes they are like litter scattered across the US.

He thinks they turn into garbage.

He says they are dangerous.

And he thinks they drive whales crazy (“obviously”). youtube.com

None of which is true. montrealgazette.com

The Donald’s battle with wind power began in 2006 when he discovered that an offshore wind project was planned to be built within view of his Scottish golf course.

He expressed his concerns about the wind farm in April 2006, stating, "I want to see the ocean, I do not want to see windmills." Even though he was never going to see windmills, because they were building wind turbines. Bygones. bbc.co.uk

He ultimately sued the Scottish government over the project and lost. wikipedia.org

After the decision, he appealed to the Supreme Court of the UK. The appeal was unanimously dismissed in December 2015. bailii.org

That is where The Donald’s war on wind began.

However, since the dawn of the Trump 2.0 presidency, he has significantly escalated his attacks on wind energy.

On the first day of his second term in office, The Donald signed an executive order halting new wind energy development on federal lands and waters. The order withdrew all offshore areas from consideration for wind leases and paused permits, approvals, and loans for onshore/offshore wind projects. whitehouse.gov

Soon thereafter, many companies that were previously planning to invest in new wind energy projects shut down those efforts. reuters.com

Back in April, The Donald halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1 green energy project, which was approved in 2018 and was already under construction off the coast of New York. empirewind.com

With the recent passing of the One Big Beautiful (bag of bullshit) Bill, The Donald effectively ended the Biden-era tax credits for new wind and solar projects. reuters.com

The Donald also signed a new executive order intended to “end American dependence on unreliable, foreign energy sources.” Note that he thinks that wind energy is somehow both unreliable and foreign. whitehouse.gov

I also wonder if someone told The Donald that wind turbines require A LOT of copper. Like tonnes of copper. A wind farm can contain between 4 million and 15 million pounds of copper.

Copper is the world’s third-most widely used industrial metal and is essential for clean energy technologies. Copper also has a 100% recyclability rate, meaning it can be reused multiple times without any decline in performance. visualcapitalist.com

Maybe that’s why there’s now an impending 50% US tariff on copper. washingtonpost.com

What The Donald is not seeing is the fact that the energy transition creates the single largest industrial growth opportunity since the Industrial Revolution. And someone is going to get rich. youtube.com

Wind energy is poised for significant growth. Global investment in the energy transition exceeded $2 trillion in 2024, according to BloombergNEF. bnef.com

Although the automotive parts industry is taking numerous hits on the chin this year, parts manufacturers have the opportunity to pivot to create wind turbine parts (where parts count in the thousands). Not to mention the need for oil-based lubricants to keep those turbines turning. youtube.com

But my favourite footnote on the wind energy story so far this year is Denmark’s recent record-breaking wind turbine. The Siemens SG DD-276 turbine stretches a ridiculous 905 ft (276 meters) from blade tip to blade tip. It's rated at a monstrous 21.5 MW capacity and could generate enough electricity to power 70,000 homes each year. newatlas.com

The Danes love wind power. And this monster turbine is like a giant Danish passive-aggressive fuck you to The Donald and his repeated threats to annex Greenland.

And I suspect The Donald didn’t even notice.

Great Wall Motors releases photos of the 2026 Haval Big Dog SUV. carnewschina.com

Michael Dunne wrote a fantastic piece in the New York Times about why Americans (and Canadians) can’t buy the world’s best electric cars. nytimes.com

ICYMI: Chinese automakers are seeking to unlock Africa's automotive sales potential, with a focus on EVs and hybrid vehicles, as restrictions on exports to the United States and Europe prompt them to pursue other markets. reuters.com

Nio's battery asset operator Mirattery has entered into a partnership with CATL. cnevpost.com

Changan Mazda announced that cumulative pre-orders for its all-electric midsize SUV, the Mazda EZ-60, have exceeded 33,000 units as of July 11. carnewschina.com

China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027, and they’ll all be open to the public. electrek.co

BYD will accept liability if one of its self-parking cars crashes. theverge.com

Tesla stands to lose billions of dollars in regulatory credits as a result of the Big Beautiful Bill’s elimination of penalties for automakers who exceed emission standards. theverge.com

Tesla plans to expand its robotaxi service to the San Francisco area within two months. What could go wrong? reuters.com

A Tesla robotaxi inexplicably drove into a parked car. engadget.com

Tesla will open its first showroom in India next week. reuters.com

Tesla registrations in Canada declined by 67% in the first half of 2025. autonews.com

Millions of dollars in Tesla EV rebates claimed in Canada before the end of the iZEV rebate ended were legitimate, Ottawa says. thecanadianpressnews.ca

Tesla lowers Model Y price in Canada by $20,000. driveteslacanada.ca

Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon’s lawsuit against tech billionaire Elon Musk and his social network X over the cancellation of their partnership can proceed to trial, a San Francisco judge ruled this week. cnbc.com

Panasonic reportedly delays production ramp at US battery factory due to low Tesla sales. electrek.co

The US Air Force has halted plans to test hypersonic rocket cargo deliveries with SpaceX. thedailybeast.com

Elon is serious about starting a new US political party. theverge.com

 Elon’s AI chatbot, Grok, started calling itself 'MechaHitler'. npr.org

Hugging Face launched the Reachy Mini, a programmable, open-source AI robot with a $299 price tag. venturebeat.com

Diligent Robotics hires two notable Cruise alumni to its leadership team. techcrunch.com

For the first time, an AI-powered robot performed a realistic surgery without human assistance. ctvnews.ca

ICYMI: Ukraine is inching even further towards a robot-on-robot fighting war. economist.com

Canadian natural gas prices are poised to jump nearly 60% this year as a new export terminal begins shipping to global markets. financialpost.com

Oil rises over 2% as investors weigh market outlook, tariffs, sanctions. reuters.com

The US’s largest power grid is struggling to meet demand from AI. reuters.com

“Bentley’s new EV concept has a grille fit for a freight train.” theverge.com

GM is pausing production at a pickup-truck plant in Mexico for several weeks. reuters.com

Mazda reveals details of the next-gen CX-5, including a hybrid model, set to arrive in 2027. arstechnica.com

Nissan is considering producing Honda pickup trucks at its Canton, Mississippi, plant. reuters.com

Hyundai and Kia are betting on lower-priced EVs to ride out tariffs. electrek.co

Porsche expects a 300 million euro ($351 million) hit to its results due to absorbing US import tariffs in April and May. reuters.com

BMW's CEO is optimistic that the EU and the US will soon reach a "manageable" agreement on auto import tariffs. reuters.com

JLR has an airbag problem. reuters.com

Despite the loss of EV incentives, GM Canada says EV sales are trending upward in Alberta. calgaryherald.com

Sony’s and Honda’s EV joint venture saw its annual operating loss more than double to $362 million as they work to kick off sales of the Afeela this year. bloomberg.com

Ironically, US automakers are urging customers to buy EVs before a $7,500 tax credit disappears. reuters.com

Waymo introduces teen accounts for customers in Phoenix. theverge.com

Marques Brownlee reviews the Rivian R1T Quad Gen 2. youtube.com

Jake and Linus from the Linus Tech Tips YouTube Channel take a used Toyota Corolla and hook up an open-source driving assistance device that turns it into a relatively inexpensive self-driving car. youtube.com

A group of Ontario mayors near Honda Canada’s manufacturing facilities are asking the Government of Canada to adjust its zero-emission vehicle sales rules to include more hybrid vehicles. autonews.com

Dealerships will have a month to make outstanding iZEV rebate claims to get their money back. Transport Canada outlined the details on Friday, indicating that any vehicle delivered before the program was paused on January 12 will be eligible for reimbursement. cbc.ca

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