Offshore wind opponents feeling left behind by Trump

A coalition of offshore wind opponents in New Jersey and New York was thrilled when President Trump signed an executive order in January to block new wind projects. But their happiness soon turned to bitter anger.

Just a few months after the president signed the order, the Trump administration cut a deal with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that revived the massive Empire Wind project south of Long Island Sound.

The 54-turbine project had been halted by the Interior Department in April. But in May, federal officials allowed it to restart.

The Trump administration won something big in the exchange for lifting its hold on Empire Wind. 

Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, tentatively agreed to drop the state’s opposition to a major natural gas pipeline project that, if completed, will bring more affordable energy to the Northeast, where demand is increasing and electricity prices are skyrocketing.

The trade-off left a coalition of fishermen, residents, local government officials and business owners stunned and feeling betrayed by Mr. Trump, who promised to halt all new wind projects in the United States.

“It was just jaw-droppingly surprising to see the about-face that happened a month later,” Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast NJ and leader of the coalition fighting the Empire Wind project, said.

The coalition of opponents sued the federal government and Equinor, the Norwegian company building the project. 

They argue the approval process was rushed and inadequate. The turbines and steel foundations, opponents say, will harm the fishing industry and tourism, will pose a threat to boaters and will undermine aviation safety.  

The group asked a judge to halt the project while the case is litigated.

An Empire Wind spokesperson said the company does not comment on ongoing lawsuits.

In the meantime, opponents are hoping a July memo from the Interior Department announcing heightened scrutiny of wind and solar projects will lead the government to once again halt Empire Wind.

The Interior Department announced all wind and solar projects will undergo “elevated review” by Secretary Doug Burgum.

The department will scrutinize leases, rights-of-way, construction and operation plans, as well as grants and biological opinions for the projects.

“It certainly gives the government, the ability to look at this program again and say, comparing this to other forms of power generation, we don’t get much out of this for the amount of land we’re going to chew up, amount of ocean space we’re going to chew up,” said Bruce Afran, an attorney representing the coalition of Empire Wind opponents in New Jersey and New York. 

The opponents are running out of time.

Equinor vessels using pile driving equipment have built more than half of the underwater steel monopoles that will hold the wind turbines. Opponents say the shock impact and ear-splitting noise from the pile drivers are harming sensitive marine life. They blame the underwater construction for the uptick in whales that have washed up dead along the Northeast coast over the past few years.

Construction is continuing on four additional offshore wind projects from Massachusetts to Virginia, despite Mr. Trump’s pledge that “no new windmills” would be built when he began his second term. These projects were given the green light long before he took office in January. 

Mr. Trump’s public statements on offshore wind align with the project’s opponents. 

His aides said Mr. Trump is not done fighting to stop ongoing wind projects, including Empire Wind.

“The President continues to oppose offshore wind projects for several reasons. This specific project was previously paused by the Department of the Interior for review, which is still in progress,” a senior administration official told The Washington Times. “Although the project has been allowed to move forward during the review, the Administration is open to new information about the project’s safety during this period.”

When Mr. Trump met with European Union leaders in Scotland last month, he urged them to follow his example and get rid of their wind turbines, citing the high cost, danger to birds and sea life and damage to the environment. 

“We will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re killing us. They’re killing the beauty of our scenery, our valleys, our beautiful plains.”

Mr. Schaffer was stunned by Mr. Trump’s comments to European leaders.

“I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard him say that there are no wind projects in the United States being built. There are five being built along the East Coast right now, in various stages of development,” he said.

It’s not easy to stop federally approved projects.

Some of the wind farms were under construction before Mr. Trump took office, having been ushered through the approval process under President Biden. Billions of dollars have been invested in the projects. A significant amount is slated to be paid for by consumers through higher utility bills once the turbines start providing electricity.

One of Mr. Biden’s top priorities was to set the United States on a path to a net-zero emission economy by 2050 and to achieve 100% “carbon pollution-free” electricity by 2035.

The Biden administration prioritized offshore wind to help achieve that goal and approved 11 offshore wind projects before Mr. Biden left office.

Among them was Empire Wind. 

The $5 billion project is located 15 miles southeast of Long Island and will span 80,000 acres. When completed, its wind turbines will tower over the ocean at more than 950 feet.

Equinor touted the project as the first offshore wind farm that will connect to the New York City grid. Company officials said it would power half a million homes and construction would create more than 1,000 union jobs.

Critics say most of the project’s construction so far has been performed by Norwegian workers, not American union workers.

And the electricity produced by the ocean turbines will likely raise rates according to economic analyses of offshore wind generation that found it is far more costly per megawatt hour than electricity produced by natural gas, nuclear or other sources.

According to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former fracking executive, offshore wind produces “the most expensive energy on the planet.”

Ms. Hochul, like other blue state governors on the East Coast, remains a staunch advocate of offshore wind.

She celebrated the deal with the Trump administration that allowed the Empire Wind project to move forward.

“Thousands of jobs. Hundreds of thousands of homes powered by clean energy. That’s what Empire Wind 1 was poised to deliver until a stop-work order was issued on April 16 by the Department of Interior,” Ms.  Hochul said. “I knew this critical project needed to move forward and have spent weeks pushing the federal government to rescind the stop work order to allow the workers to return and ensure this important source of renewable power could come to fruition.”

Equinor last year paused plans to build Empire Wind 2 on leased land adjacent to the current project. The company cited “changed economic circumstances,” impacting the offshore wind industry.

Mr. Afran said there is still time for the courts and the Trump administration to stop the ongoing Empire Wind project, even though it was given the green light by the Biden administration and was restarted by the Trump administration.

“If it turns out there’s a serious error in the analysis, the government does have the power to go back and revisit that without question, and that’s part of our case,” Mr. Afran said.