The Trump administration halted development on a virtually full offshore wind undertaking close to Rhode Island because the White Home continues to assault the battered U.S. offshore wind business that scientists say is essential to the pressing combat towards local weather change.
Danish wind farm developer Orsted says the Revolution Wind undertaking is about 80% full, with 45 out of its 65 generators already put in.
Regardless of that progress — and the truth that the undertaking had cleared years of federal and state critiques — the Bureau of Ocean Power Administration issued the order Friday, saying the federal authorities must evaluation the undertaking and “deal with issues associated to the safety of nationwide safety pursuits of the USA.”
It didn’t specify what the nationwide safety issues are.
President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable power initiatives. Trump just lately referred to as wind and solar energy “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media publish and vowed to not approve wind or “farmer destroying Photo voltaic” initiatives. “The times of stupidity are over within the USA!!!” he wrote on his Reality Social web site this week.
Scientists throughout the globe agree that nations must quickly embrace renewable power to stave off the worst results of local weather change, together with excessive warmth and drought; bigger, extra intense wildfires and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons and rainstorms that result in catastrophic flooding.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee criticized the stop-work order and stated he and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont “will pursue each avenue to reverse the choice to halt work on Revolution Wind” in a publish on X. Each governors are Democrats.
Building on Revolution Wind started in 2023, and the undertaking was anticipated to be totally operational subsequent yr. Orsted says it’s evaluating the monetary impression of stopping development and is contemplating authorized proceedings.
Revolution Wind is positioned greater than 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles (51 kilometers) southeast of the Connecticut coast and 12 miles (19 kilometers) southwest of Martha’s Winery. Rhode Island is already residence to at least one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.
Revolution Wind was anticipated to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, able to powering greater than 350,000 houses. The densely populated states have minimal house out there for land-based power initiatives, which is why the offshore wind undertaking is taken into account essential for the states to satisfy their local weather targets.
“This arbitrary resolution defies all logic and cause — Revolution Wind’s undertaking was already properly underway and employed a whole lot of expert tradesmen and girls. It is a main setback for a essential undertaking in Connecticut, and I’ll combat it,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, stated in an announcement.
Wind energy is the most important supply of renewable power within the U.S. and supplies about 10% of the electrical energy generated within the nation.
“As we speak, the U.S. has just one totally operational large-scale offshore wind undertaking producing energy. That’s not sufficient to satisfy America’s rising power wants. We’d like extra power of all sorts, together with oil and fuel, wind, and new and rising applied sciences,” stated Erik Milito, president of the Nationwide Ocean Industries Affiliation, a bunch that helps offshore oil, fuel and wind.
Inexperienced Oceans, a nonprofit that opposes the offshore wind business, applauded the BOEM’s resolution. “We’re grateful that the Trump Administration and the federal authorities are taking significant motion to protect the delicate ocean setting off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” the nonprofit stated in an announcement.
That is the second main offshore wind undertaking the White Home has halted. Work was stopped on Empire Wind, a New York offshore wind undertaking, however development was allowed to renew after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, each Democrats, intervened.
“This administration has it precisely backwards. It’s making an attempt to prop up clunky, polluting coal crops whereas doing all it will possibly to halt the quickest rising power sources of the longer term – photo voltaic and wind energy,” stated Equipment Kennedy, managing director for the ability division at Pure Assets Protection Council, in an announcement. “Sadly, each American is paying the worth for these misguided selections.”
