Trump officials halt offshore wind-farm projects over ‘national security risks’ | Trump administration
The Trump administration said it was immediately pausing all leases for offshore wind farms currently under construction; It’s the heaviest blow yet to an industry the administration has targeted relentlessly throughout the year.
Trump’s Interior Department said construction on five wind projects was halted due to “national security risks.” The department said it would work with the U.S. Department of Defense to reduce the risk of wind turbine towers creating radar interference, called “jamming,” that could somehow hinder the U.S. military.
“The primary duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid development of relevant competing technologies and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects near our east coast population centers.”
The shutdown will affect the Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind in New York, Revolution Wind off Rhode Island, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project in Virginia.
The projects were all reviewed and approved under Joe Biden’s administration; This revealed the absence of extreme national security concerns raised by the developments. There are democrats pointed to two evaluations by the Pentagon of Revolution Wind, which found that the project “will not have adverse impacts on Department of Defense missions in the region.”
Wind developers and regional grid operators have warned that Trump’s attack on offshore wind will cost billions of dollars in investment, thousands of jobs and a new supply of clean electricity that will help support grids facing rising demand for new power due to the rapid advance of artificial intelligence.
A federal judge in Massachusetts earlier this month reigned Trump’s order banning wind project permits was said to be “arbitrary, capricious and unlawful.” The judge overturned the decision after a lawsuit was filed by 17 states and Washington DC.
However, by halting wind farms under construction, Trump has stepped up his crusade against the beleaguered wind industry, which he has long railed against for opposing the appearance of wind turbines on his Scottish golf course more than a decade ago.
“The wind is the worst,” the president said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9. “It’s a scam. They destroy your valleys. They destroy your peaks. And [it’s] the most expensive energy.”
In fact, wind is among the cheapest energy sources, and its costs have been falling rapidly in recent years. Clean energy advocates had hoped for a late bloom of offshore wind in the United States, which has outpaced many countries in Europe, but that has been hobbled by hostility from the Trump administration as well as some domestic opposition.
“For nearly a year, the Trump administration has recklessly blocked the production of clean, affordable energy for millions of Americans as the nation’s electricity needs have increased,” said Ted Kelly, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund.
“We must not bring America’s largest renewable energy source to its knees, especially at a time when we need cheaper, domestic electricity. Instead, this administration has baselessly attacked wind energy with delays, freezes, and cancellations while supporting aging, expensive coal plants that barely run and pollute our air.”
