Trump Administration Targets Offshore Wind Farms, Citing Nationwide Safety Issues
The U.S. Division of the Inside introduced it could “pause” leases for 5 giant offshore wind farms, imperiling the fast-growing clear vitality trade
Pilot mission generators for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Program, slated to be accomplished in 2026.
Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune Information Service/Getty Photographs
The Trump administration on Monday introduced it was “pausing—efficient instantly” leases for 5 giant offshore wind farms being constructed off the East Coast. Within the announcement, Division of the Inside secretary Doug Burgum cited “rising nationwide safety dangers” for the choice, however the company supplied no proof as to what dangers had been discovered.
The 5 initiatives affected by the pause are offshore of New York State, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia. Round 5.8 gigawatts of offshore wind was anticipated to return on-line within the U.S. between 2025 to 2029—sufficient to energy thousands and thousands of properties throughout the Japanese Seaboard. Some $10 billion has been invested within the U.S. wind trade since 2021. The Trump administration choice imperils that each that funding and future vitality capability.
A press release asserting the choice on Monday indicated that wind generators brought about radar “muddle,” referencing a 2024 Vitality Division report that appeared into wind generators’ impact on radar programs.
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That report warned that muddle from wind generators within the line of sight of protection and civilian radar programs could cause interference and result in false alarms. One technique to mitigate this drawback, the report famous, is to decrease radar detection thresholds—which reduces the muddle however might lead to lacking “precise targets.” An alternative choice the report proposed is to make sure wind farms aren’t in-built a radar’s line of sight.
“We shouldn’t be kneecapping America’s largest supply of renewable energy, particularly after we want extra low cost, homegrown electrical energy,” stated Ted Kelly of U.S. Clear Vitality on the Environmental Protection Fund, in a press release. “As an alternative, this administration has baselessly and unlawfully attacked wind vitality,” he added.
One of many affected initiatives, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind mission, was sited “in shut coordination with the navy,” in accordance with a spokesperson for Dominion Vitality, which operates the wind farm, in feedback to the New York Instances. Certainly, wind farm operators, scientists and the navy have collaborated on minimizing radar results of wind farms for many years. Burgum on Monday advised Fox Enterprise that the choice to pause the initiatives got here as a result of the Division of Protection “has come again conclusively that … these giant offshore wind packages create radar interference.”
The Division of the Inside and the Division of Protection didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Editor’s Notice: This story is in improvement and could also be up to date.
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