The Trump administration announced on Monday it is “pausing” federal leases for five offshore wind farms already under construction or operating along the East Coast, citing “classified” reports about alleged national security threats.
The directive, which takes effect immediately, is expected to force work stoppages on piers from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to New London, Connecticut, to Brooklyn, New York, to Portsmouth, Virginia, where hundreds of union workers have been assembling turbine components for offshore installation. The order threatens billions of dollars of private investment in the offshore wind projects, and could derail several states’ goals to transition quickly to renewable energy sources.
The Department of the Interior’s statement said the five impacted projects include Vineyard Wind 1 and Revolution Wind, both of which are nearly complete and providing electricity already to New England’s power grid.
“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in the statement. “The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
The announcement said federal agencies “have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called ‘clutter.’ The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects.”
Some experts on the offshore wind industry were incredulous.
“It’s a completely meritless argument,” said Kris Ohleth, director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, an independent policy think tank. “Each of the projects goes through an extensive screening with the Department of Defense as part of the NEPA — the National Environmental Policy Act — review.”
The reviews — which were published as project-specific “records of decision” — found “the impact to radar interference was listed as minor,” Ohleth said. The reviews also require offshore wind developers to employ mitigation measures, Ohleth said, which all five projects are adhering to.
Ohleth, who previously worked for the wind developer Orsted, said companies will likely immediately stop offshore wind construction in response to Burgum’s announcement.
“One can presume that any violation of this is a violation of federal law, and I know the companies take this very seriously,” Ohleth said.
The shutdowns would affect many American union workers, who have found jobs building offshore wind projects.
“It’s really scary,” said Kevin Rose, a union longshoreman in New Bedford working on Vineyard Wind 1. “This project changed my life financially. This pause would be really hurtful for our city and our local.”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration issued stop work orders to Revolution Wind and Empire Wind. A federal judge later reversed the Revolution Wind order, and the Trump administration lifted its halt of Empire Wind, allowing construction to resume on both projects.
Now, the Trump administration is seeking to halt those projects once again, as part of a blanket ruling on all ongoing offshore wind construction.
In a Monday morning appearance on the Fox Business television channel, Burgum described the concerns of the Department of War, the term Trump’s administration uses for what was previously called the Department of Defense.
“The Department of War has come back conclusively that the issues related to these large offshore wind programs have created radar interference that creates a genuine risk for the U.S.,” Burgum said, “particularly related to the – where they are in proximity to our East Coast population centers.”
Ocean State Media’s Jeremy Bernfeld contributed to this story. This is a developing story and will be updated.
