Trump administration halts major northeast offshore wind project

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered New York’s Empire Wind project to halt construction, following President Trump’s earlier memorandum calling for a comprehensive review of all federal wind projects.

The move is a blow to environmental groups who want the ocean-based wind farms to add more clean energy to the electric grid and help the nation transition away from fossil fuels.

But it was an inevitable development following the Trump administration’s plan to review all federal offshore wind projects, which the president has labeled as expensive, unsightly and environmentally harmful.

“We’re not going to do the wind thing,” Mr. Trump said on his first day in office. “Big, ugly wind mills. They ruin your neighborhood.”

Mr. Burgum’s directive was celebrated by groups who oppose the Empire Wind project and believe it will harm tourism, the fishing industry and threaten marine life, including endangered whale species.

The Empire Wind farm was under construction in the waters of the New York Bight, which extends from the southern tip of Cape May, New Jersey, to the southeastern coast of Long Island. The area is home to a critical marine ecosystem, and construction of the massive wind turbines, opponents say, would harm it and create other problems.

“The New York Bight is an especially vulnerable location, and Empire Wind posed a significant threat to national defense, homeland security, commercial aviation, shipping, marine navigation and fishing,” said Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, an offshore wind opposition group.

Offshore wind opponents blame wind farm exploration and construction on an uptick in beached whales along the New Jersey and New York coastlines.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration reported an increase in whale strandings and whale mortality along the East Coast but found “no known links” to the development of offshore wind projects.

Empire Wind is complying with Mr. Burgum’s order.

Company officials announced they have halted construction of the project.

Empire Wind secured a federal lease in 2017 and received “all necessary federal and state permits and is currently under construction,” the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The project, when completed, they said, would have potentially powered 500,000 New York homes.

“Empire is engaging with relevant authorities to clarify this matter and is considering its legal remedies, including appealing the order,” the company said.

Aside from an offshore wind project in Massachusetts, no wind turbines have been erected along the Eastern Seaboard, but planning has been underway for millions of acres of offshore wind farms from Maine to North Carolina that would provide 18,000 megawatts of power.

Mr. Trump wants all of the federal offshore wind projects to undergo new scrutiny before moving forward.

A Government Accountability Office report on offshore wind policy released earlier this month cited several potential problems associated with the projects, among them the impact of highly reflective, steel turbines on defense and radar systems.

“Wind turbines can reduce the performance of radar systems used for defense and maritime navigation and safety in several ways. These include reducing detection sensitivity, obscuring potential targets, and generating false targets,” the report said, citing an Energy Department analysis. “In addition, offshore wind energy development may affect larger military exercises by obstructing flight and surface and subsurface vessel movement, according to Department of Defense officials.”

In a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Mr. Burgum said a review of Empire Wind’s federal permits suggests the project was “rushed through” by the Biden administration.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement that the Empire Wind project was fully permitted, employed hundreds of New Yorkers and was part of her plan to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant.

“As governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand,” she said. “I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.”