This is beyond my understanding. They are actually paying to stop society from advancing.

Because the money they are spending and the money they will be making comes and ends in different pockets.

Trump holds a grudge against wind turbines, for no other reason than that they "ruined" the view at a golf course / club he owns in Scotland. He tried to get them removed, but lost that case in court.

That's mostly it. Another factor would be Trump getting donations from the oil & gas industry.

To be fair, this seems consistent with what they normally do, and arguably consistent with what their voters want.

As Republican commentator Bill Buckley put it, "A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop."

The rest of the quote is actually about how it's meant to give people time to think, but it has clearly become an autonomic action.

Welcome to American conservatism.