The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, has ordered a halt to an offshore wind project near Long Island’s coast. Equinor, the Norwegian energy company managing the project, has complied with the order and suspended all construction activities. President Trump, who has criticized wind energy, issued a moratorium on new offshore wind projects as one of his first executive actions upon returning to the White House. Burgum’s decision escalates the administration’s opposition to offshore wind, despite the multi-billion dollar project in New York already having federal permits and construction underway. Robert Freudenberg from the Regional Plan Association described this as ‘next level offshore wind aggression.’ The project, Empire Wind 1, was intended to supply power to 500,000 homes in New York. Although federal leasing for the project was signed in 2017 during Trump’s first administration, much of the permitting occurred under the Biden administration. Critics argue that the review process was thorough and not rushed, as claimed by the Interior Department. Additionally, recent reports from the Government Accountability Office indicate no anticipated harm to whales from offshore wind activities. The halt disrupts a critical electricity supply for growing power demands in the region and jeopardizes New York’s goal of developing 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035. \n— new from NPR
