The story. The Pentagon is holding up approvals for 165 onshore wind projects totaling 30 gigawatts of capacity, citing a review of how it evaluates the national security impact of energy projects. The freeze covers projects on private land — including some near final sign-off — and echoes an offshore wind strategy that federal courts already struck down as unlawful.

The bigger picture. Wind generated 464 TWh of US electricity in 2025 — 10% of the national total (EIA). In Texas, the country's top wind-producing state, wind supplies 22% of all electricity (EIA, 2025), second only to natural gas. The American Clean Power Association says the broader US clean power sector accounted for over 90% of all new electricity capacity added to the grid in 2025 — a buildout the 30-gigawatt freeze now disrupts. The grid still relies heavily on fossil fuels — natural gas provides 41% of generation and coal another 16% (EIA, 2025) — giving the US a carbon intensity of 384 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (Ember, 2025). Carbon intensity measures how much pollution each unit of electricity carries; the US sits below the global average of 459 gCO2/kWh but far above Denmark's 114 gCO2/kWh (Ember, 2025), the country with the world's highest share of wind in its electricity mix.

The tension. The freeze sidelines domestically produced power while — per the article — global energy markets face pressure from the US-Iran conflict. Each stalled project extends the grid's dependence on the gas and coal that wind was actively displacing.