A vocal opponent of wind power, United States President Donald Trump is apparently making good on his campaign trail threats to end the offshore wind industry in North America.
According to a LinkedIn update from AP Climate Watch, the Trump administration has begun “aggressively” targeting offshore and onshore wind projects across the US, thwarting a number of states’ plans to meet their clean energy targets.
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Since taking office, Trump has signed an executive order temporarily halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits, and loans for onshore and offshore wind projects.
In April, the administration ordered Norwegian renewables developer Equinor to stop construction on its 810MW Empire Wind 1 project off the coast of New York.
The fully permitted project is approximately 30% complete, and Equinor says it will be forced to terminate the project “within days” unless the administration backs down.
Onshore wind is the country’s largest source of renewable energy, totalling approximately 10% of electricity generation.
Several US states are relying on offshore wind to meet their renewables targets, including Massachusetts and California, with the latter looking to develop 25GW of offshore wind energy by 2045.
According to AP Climate Watch, attorneys general from 17 states and Washington DC are asking a federal judge to declare Trump’s executive order on wind unlawful and stop federal agencies from implementing it.
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They argue Trump is jeopardising development of a power source critical to their states’ economic vitality, energy mix, public health and climate goals.
Trump, however, is seeking to increase production of oil and gas to bring down energy prices across the country.
