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.
In addition to the President’s Executive order, Secretary Burgum has ample legal authority to pause the leases and permits to conduct the review of the projects. Every agreement between the Department of Interior and an offshore wind developer expressly permits the Department to amend permit conditions or impose additional conditions authorized by law or regulations.
There are plenty of facts and circumstances concerning the offshore wind projects that may very well have been given short shrift by the over-eager Biden administration. These include the impacts of offshore wind on commercial navigation, naval operations,commercial and recreational fishing, and a comprehensive analysis of its cumulative impact on protected marine mammals, especially the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
Right whale researchers say there are only about 400 right whales left. Green groups and the Biden regime have used the exceedingly rare and accidental ensnarement of right whales by lobster gear as an excuse to attack the Maine lobster industry. Bizarrely, the Biden regime nevertheless gave express permission to the offshore wind industry to harass and/or kill twice as many right whales as are thought to exist.
Also, with respect to whales, there is ongoing litigation between the not-for-profit Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and the Heartland Institute (Disclosure: I am a member of Heartland’s board of directors) against Dominion Energy’s project. But the company has been able to exploit the cumbersome federal litigation process. It hopes to get construction going before any adverse judicial ruling can be made. Judges may very well be unwilling to halt a partially constructed project because of sunk costs.
President Trump campaigned on saving the whales and the rest of us from offshore wind and followed up with an Executive order. But much of the first Trump administration was sabotaged from within by bureaucrats who styled themselves as a “resistance.” It may not be sufficient simply to issue directives to agency staff and expect the orders to be implemented. Someone has got to see to their execution.
Steve Milloy is a biostatistician and lawyer, publishes JunkScience.com and is on X @JunkScience.
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