Trump’s war on wind goes further than expected as it stops New York project
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday ordered that work be halted immediately on a major wind development off the coast of New York, dealing a blow to an industry whose leaders had thought projects under construction would be safe from President Donald Trump’s push to limit offshore wind.
While Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office halting all approvals for offshore wind projects, industry executives had speculated that fully permitted projects such as Empire Wind 1 would not be affected.
Burgum posted on social media that he directed staff to “immediately halt all construction activities on the Empire Wind Project until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
The post did not provide details on what may have been rushed about the approval.
David Schoetz, a spokesman for Equinor, the Norwegian company developing the project, said in a statement that the company would engage with the government “to understand the questions raised about the permits we have received from authorities.” He declined to comment on the consequences of the administration’s decision until the company has further information.
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Construction related to Empire Wind began in 2024 to revamp a neglected marine terminal in South Brooklyn, employing more than 1,500 workers, and offshore work was set to begin this year.
Wind energy groups blasted the announcement as counter to the administration’s stated goal of boosting domestic energy production. Electricity demand in the United States has been rising and is expected to skyrocket by the end of the decade, thanks to data centers, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
“Doubling back to reconsider permits after projects are under construction sends a chilling signal to all energy investment,” said Jason Grumet, head of the American Clean Power Association, a trade group. “These political reversals are bad policy, whether applied to pipelines or wind farms.”
It also denies New York City, with its massive and growing demand for electricity, a potential source of power, according to Climate Jobs New York, a coalition of labor unions.
“At a time when energy demand and utility bills are rising across New York, we need to build more energy, not less,” the group said in a statement.
Trump has criticized wind farms for more than a decade, first arguing that turbines off the coast of Scotland would spoil the view at a golf course he owned.
New York risks missing its ambitious climate and renewable energy targets without the Empire Wind project. The state in its 2019 climate law committed to generating 70 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and to build 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2035, about 68 times as much electricity as now produced by the state’s sole offshore wind project.
Empire Wind 1 aims to generate 810 megawatts of energy, enough to power half a million New York homes.
“As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a statement Wednesday. “I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.”
Maxine Joselow contributed to this report.