by Steve Milloy, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow and Junkscience.com Founder
As appearing in the Daily Caller
President Trump has long railed at offshore wind development. The unsightly turbines are associated with scores of dead whales washing up on beaches and cost more than any other form of energy. Their recent development was approved by the climate activist-run Biden regime and funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, or what President Trump likes to call the “Green New Scam.”
On Day One of his administration, the President issued an Executive order to pause offshore wind development pending review. This was great news for MAGA voters, actual environmentalists and the hundreds of endangered whales and thousands of dolphins, porpoises and seals that the Biden administration had expressly permitted the offshore wind industry to harass and kill. President Trump continues to rail against offshore wind in public any chance he gets.
Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum, whose department is responsible for leases and permits for offshore wind projects, seems to have gotten the message as he recently posted on X: “On day one, @POTUS stopped offshore wind and this is exactly why. The offshore wind industry is expensive, unreliable and raises serious concerns.”
But the Department of Interior has yet to take final action. On or about May 1, if not earlier depending on weather, four of the nine East Coast offshore wind projects approved by the Biden administration could commence construction. These include what would be the largest U.S. offshore wind project anywhere, Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, as well as Orsted’s Revolution Wind off the coasts of Rhode Island and Connecticut, Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 off the coast of New York City and another Danish company project, Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts.
