Trump’s War on Wind, Part Four
The Department of Interior announced a fourth taxpayer-funded payoff to a wind company so that it will not produce much-needed power. North Carolina project could power 300,000 homes.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced it would be paying off another company not to produce offshore wind energy, the fourth time it has wasted taxpayer funds this way.
Duke Energy abandoned a lease off the coast of North Carolina that could provide enough power for more than 300,000 homes. This follows three similar payouts, bringing the total U.S. taxpayer cost to more than $2.5 billion.
The following is a comment from Pasha Feinberg, offshore wind strategist at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“We need more electricity, not less. Canceling clean energy projects is self-defeating. Paying off companies so they will abandon them is just ludicrous.
“This is a lose-lose proposition. The Trump administration is wasting our money paying companies not to produce energy.
“It's long past time for the Trump administration to end its war on new energy so that customers’ bills won’t keep rising and our nation can meet its growing electricity demands.”
For more history about the administration’s attacks on clean energy projects, see NRDC’s White House Watch tracker.
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).