{"id":42877,"date":"2025-09-28T11:54:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/42877\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T11:54:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:54:13","slug":"how-trumps-assault-on-us-wind-industry-threatens-jobs-and-power-for-nearly-5m-homes-wind-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/42877\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump\u2019s assault on US wind industry threatens jobs and power for nearly 5m homes | Wind power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump<\/a> has jettisoned Republicans\u2019 longstanding \u201call of the above\u201d approach to energy by using the US government to aggressively stamp out clean energy projects \u2013 particularly offshore wind turbines.<\/p>\n

The scale of the intervention is remarkable \u2013 a total of nine already permitted offshore wind projects that were set to provide electricity to nearly 5m households and create about 9,000 jobs in the US are under investigation or have already been paused by the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump has barred any new solar and wind projects from federal land and waters, eliminated incentives<\/a> for clean energy and, almost uniquely for a US president, called for an entire industry to be stopped in its tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWindmills \u2013 we\u2019re just not gonna allow them, they are ruining the country,\u201d the president said last month. On Tuesday, he told the United Nations, without evidence: \u201cCountries are on the brink of destruction because of the green energy agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president has a long distaste for wind turbines<\/a>, saying they are \u201cugly\u201d, \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cgarbage\u201d, and calling any support for wind and solar to help ameliorate the climate crisis \u201cthe scam of the century\u201d.<\/p>\n

This grudge has been aimed most pointedly at the US\u2019s nascent offshore wind sector, with the Trump administration<\/a> currently halting, delaying or investigating nine already permitted projects off the east coast \u2013 five of which are already under construction. In the past two weeks alone, officials have filed a legal motion to stop a wind project off Maryland and started a review of another off Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

A bar chart showing that the threatened offshore wind projects were set to power nearly 5m homes<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials also halted a Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island<\/a>, which is 80% complete, although work was allowed to resume by a federal judge on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder this administration, there is not a future for offshore wind because it is too expensive and not reliable enough,\u201d Doug Burgum, Trump\u2019s interior secretary, told a conference in Italy this month.<\/p>\n

The interior department, Burgum said at the conference, is \u201ctaking a deep look\u201d at the five under-construction offshore wind farms \u2013 Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island, Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, both off New York.<\/p>\n

Officials have taken additional steps to impede certain projects. In a court filing this month, lawyers for the administration<\/a> asked a federal judge to cancel the approval of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, saying they had identified an error.<\/p>\n

Last week, they moved to block the SouthCoast Wind project off Massachusetts, and earlier they also announced they are reconsidering approvals for another wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, called New England Wind.<\/p>\n

In order to squash projects that had already been approved, the Trump administration has variously claimed offshore wind turbines disturb whales, pose national security risks, and impede search and rescue efforts, despite presenting little to no evidence of such harms.<\/p>\n

A Department of Interior spokesperson said that work on Revolution Wind will resume but it will still be investigated over \u201cpossible impacts by the project to national security\u201d.<\/p>\n

The department \u2018\u201cremains committed to ensuring that prior decisions are legally and factually sound\u201d, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

This crackdown has rattled businesses and imperiled a sizable amount of power that was to flow from the offshore wind farms.<\/p>\n

In total, the nine wind projects were set to deliver around 12.5GW of energy capacity, enough to provide power to almost 5m households. More than 9,000 direct and indirect jobs flowing from the projects are also at risk should they be halted, according to an analysis<\/a> by the Center for American Progress.<\/p>\n

A bar chart showing that more than 9,000 offshore wind jobs are threatened by the Trump administration <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAt least a third, or maybe 40%, of building trade members, we are pretty sure, voted for this president and his administration \u2026 Now thousands are losing work,\u201d said David Langlais, who leads the Ironworkers Local 37, whose members were among the more than 1,000 workers whose jobs were threatened by the attempt to halt Revolution Wind in Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration came out saying they\u2019re supportive of working people, working Americans, but they just continue to show the opposite of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s war on wind has had spurred chaos among developers. In June, Atlantic Shores, the company behind a planned wind farm off New Jersey\u2019s coast, asked the state to cancel its contract<\/a> after Trump\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency yanked a necessary air permit<\/a> for the project. The firms behind Empire Wind 2 off New York in January also cancelled their contract, citing economic concerns and supply chain issues.<\/p>\n

It is unusual for the US government to attempt to shut down a project it has previously approved, even under a different administration. A further six offshore wind projects, promising an additional 11.6GW of power, are still in the permitting phase and so will be even more vulnerable to being scrapped by the administration.<\/p>\n

Experts have pointed out that renewables such as wind and solar are often the cheapest sources of electricity, with a slowdown<\/a> in US deployment set to further raise<\/a> energy costs for American households. In New England, the grid operator has warned<\/a> of potential power shortfalls, too, if the targeted offshore wind projects are scrapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalting construction and revoking permits on approved projects after years of thorough agency review will raise electricity prices for millions across the country, jeopardize billions of dollars in private investment, threaten our national shipbuilding, steel and manufacturing supply chains, and undermine our nation\u2019s energy security,\u201d said Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic, the offshore renewable energy-focused organization formerly known as the Business Network for Maryland Offshore Wind.<\/p>\n

Table showing the status of the offshore wind projects at risk<\/a><\/p>\n

The attack on wind is especially concerning amid the rising demand for energy caused by the growth of AI datacenters, said Michael Sabitoni, general secretary-treasurer of the Laborers International Union of North America.<\/p>\n

That strain has also raised energy prices, including for workers whose jobs are under threat. And no other power projects in New England are slated to bring more energy or jobs online, Sabitoni added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you said you wanted to bring, for instance, a new nuclear plant online, do you know how long it would take to site that? It would take years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fallout will take a major toll on local economies, said Sabitoni.<\/p>\n

The onslaught on wind power has bewildered some conservatives who still adhere to \u201call of the above\u201d, a term widely used by Republicans, including the Trump administration in its first term, over the past decade to denote an agnostic, free-market approach to energy.<\/p>\n

Scientists have warned that fossil fuels must be steadily phased out to avert disastrous climate impacts. By contrast, Trump, who received large donations<\/a> from the oil and gas industry during his election campaign, has invoked emergency powers<\/a>, shredded<\/a> regulations and boosted subsidies<\/a> to force through more fossil fuel projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different from the first term,\u201d said Heather Reams, chief executive of Citizens for Responsible Energy<\/a> Solutions (Cres), a conservative group that advocates for clean energy. \u201cThere\u2019s no real precedence for this and it\u2019s having a chilling effect across energy projects in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right-leaning Americans still overwhelmingly back the \u201call of the above\u201d approach, polling released by Cres this week<\/a> shows. A total of 85% of Republican voters support \u201call of the above\u201d, the poll found, with nearly three-quarters wanting the US to use clean energy to help cut planet-heating pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing a big difference between ordinary voters and what\u2019s happening inside the Beltway,\u201d said Reams. \u201cThere\u2019s this harsh turn against renewable energy from the White House, particularly offshore wind. We haven\u2019t heard an economic reason for this, although we know that President Trump has not liked wind for a long time. It sounds like it is personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quick GuideContact us about this storyShow\"\"<\/p>\n

The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.<\/p>\n

If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.<\/p>\n

Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/p>\n

The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n

If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n

SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post<\/p>\n

If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, our guide at theguardian.com\/tips<\/a>\u00a0lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration: Guardian Design \/ Rich Cousins<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump has jettisoned Republicans\u2019 longstanding \u201call of the above\u201d approach to energy by using the US government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-42877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}