Shortsighted Pause on Offshore Wind Projects Could Kill Jobs and Increase Electric Bills
Trump administration pauses fully permitted offshore wind projects, escalating its war on clean energy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump administration announced today that it has paused leases on all offshore wind projects that are under construction. The move follows a court ruling that implementing the administration’s ban on wind energy permits was unlawful.
The five projects “paused” today were fully permitted—some in the final stages of construction and nearly complete—and represent nearly 6 GW of energy generation, capable of powering more than 2.5 million homes.
Following is response from Pasha Feinberg, offshore wind strategist at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“This so-called pause on offshore wind makes no sense and is an escalation of the administration’s ongoing, baseless attacks on clean energy. Even as the administration says we are in an energy emergency, it is undermining the cleanest, cheapest, and fastest-to-deploy sources of energy. When people are shocked at their monthly electricity bills, I hope they know to point their fingers straight at the White House.
“The five offshore wind projects that were paused today have been under development for more than a decade and were fully approved and permitted by the federal government. Offshore wind developers worked directly with the U.S. Department of Defense throughout the process. Stopping these projects puts tens of thousands of quality jobs at risk in the midst of the holiday season.
“In its ongoing effort to prop up waning fossil fuels interests, the administration is taking wilder and wilder swings at the clean energy projects this economy needs. Investments in energy infrastructure require business certainty. This is the opposite. If the administration thinks the chilling impacts of this action are limited to the clean energy sector, it is sorely mistaken.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).