Trump halts work on New England offshore wind challenge that is almost full

The Trump administration halted development on a virtually full offshore wind challenge 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 struggle towards local weather change.

Danish wind farm developer Orsted says the Revolution Wind challenge is about 80% full, with 45 out of its 65 generators already put in.

Regardless of that progress — and the truth that the challenge had cleared years of federal and state opinions — the Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration issued the order Friday, saying the federal authorities must assessment the challenge and “handle issues associated to the safety of nationwide safety pursuits of the US.”

It didn’t specify what the nationwide safety issues are.

President Donald Trump has made sweeping strides to prioritize fossil fuels and hinder renewable vitality tasks. Trump lately referred to as wind and solar energy “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!” in a social media put up and vowed to not approve wind or “farmer destroying Photo voltaic” tasks. “The times of stupidity are over within the USA!!!” he wrote on his Fact Social web site this week.

Scientists throughout the globe agree that nations have to quickly embrace renewable vitality 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 mentioned he and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont “will pursue each avenue to reverse the choice to halt work on Revolution Wind” in a put up on X. Each governors are Democrats.

Building on Revolution Wind started in 2023, and the challenge was anticipated to be absolutely operational subsequent yr. Orsted says it’s evaluating the monetary influence of stopping development and is contemplating authorized proceedings.

Revolution Wind is situated 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 house to 1 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 vitality tasks, which is why the offshore wind challenge is taken into account essential for the states to fulfill their local weather objectives.

“This arbitrary determination defies all logic and motive — Revolution Wind’s challenge was already effectively underway and employed a whole lot of expert tradesmen and girls. It is a main setback for a vital challenge in Connecticut, and I’ll struggle it,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, mentioned in a press release.

Wind energy is the biggest supply of renewable vitality within the U.S. and offers about 10% of the electrical energy generated within the nation.

Inexperienced Oceans, a nonprofit that opposes the offshore wind business, applauded the BOEM’s determination. “We’re grateful that the Trump Administration and the federal authorities are taking significant motion to protect the delicate ocean atmosphere off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” the nonprofit mentioned in a press release.

That is the second main offshore wind challenge the White Home has halted. Work was stopped on Empire Wind, a New York offshore wind challenge, 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 vegetation whereas doing all it will possibly to halt the quickest rising vitality sources of the longer term – photo voltaic and wind energy,” mentioned Equipment Kennedy, managing director for the ability division at Pure Assets Protection Council, in a press release. “Sadly, each American is paying the value for these misguided selections.”

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Reporter Jennifer McDermott contributed from Windfall, Rhode Island, and Matthew Daly contributed from Washington.

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