Trump administration issues order to stop construction on New York
offshore wind project
[April 17, 2025]
By JENNIFER McDERMOTT
The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction
on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York
homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted
project. He said it needs further review because it appears the Biden
administration rushed the approval.
The Norwegian company Equinor is building Empire Wind to start providing
power in 2026. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in
March 2017, early in President Donald Trump's first term. BOEM approved
the construction and operations plan in February 2024 and construction
began that year.
Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.
His first day in office, Trump signed an executive order temporarily
halting offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pausing the
issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects. Last
month, the administration revoked the Clean Air Permit for an offshore
wind project off the coast of New Jersey, Atlantic Shores. Construction
on that wind farm had not yet begun.
Equinor said Wednesday it had just received a notification from BOEM and
it will engage directly with the agency and the Interior Department to
understand the questions raised about the permits. A spokesperson
declined to comment on the fate of the project, which is located
southeast of Long Island, New York.
The energy company has over $60 billion in investments across the U.S.,
including substantial oil, gas and renewable projects.
[to top of second column]
|
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks with a reporter outside the
West Wing of the White House, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
While Trump is focused on energy abundance, the American Clean Power
industry association said halting construction of fully-permitted
energy projects is the “literal opposite" of that agenda, and it
sends a “chilling signal” to all energy companies. Climate Jobs New
York, a coalition of labor unions, said New York needs offshore wind
and other clean energy projects to help address rising energy costs
and create jobs.
“It is out of touch to suggest that killing good jobs and energy
sources is a good idea when working New Yorkers are struggling with
rising costs of living and our grid needs stability,” the coalition
said in a statement. The United States can't be energy independent
without offshore wind, it added.
The Biden administration sought to ramp up offshore wind as a
climate change solution, setting national goals to deploy offshore
wind energy, holding lease sales and approving nearly a dozen
commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. The nation’s first
commercial-scale offshore wind farm opened a year ago, a 12-turbine
wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of
Montauk Point, New York.
Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies his first day in
office with a spate of executive orders aimed at boosting oil, gas
and coal. The administration is reviewing all existing and pending
offshore wind permits.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
