Labor & political leaders oppose Trump's Revolution Wind stop-work order
“We are here for what I call a reckless move by the current administration that will have a detrimental impact not only on Rhode Island, but on our renewable energy quest up and down the East Coast,” said Michael Sabitoni, General Secretary-Treasurer of LiUNA and President of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council. [It will halt] “the momentum that started here almost 20 years ago with the vision and the courage to address Rhode Island’s energy needs and all the hard work that went into building an offshore wind industry from scratch, with both Republican and Democratic administrations over the last 20 years...”
Sabitoni was speaking at a press conference held in Quonset,
home to Ørsted’s Regional Offshore Wind Logistics and
Operations Hub and several Rhode Island-built crew transfer vessels
supporting the project.
“We’ve got a massive energy project offshore that is 80%
complete, employing hundreds of tradesmen and women, that we are counting on to
deliver almost 700 megawatts of much-needed power to our grid,” continued
Sabitoni. “This is bullshit.”
The press conference, which included political and labor
leaders, as well as construction workers, was held to condemn Donald
Trump’s reckless stop-work order halting construction on Revolution
Wind - a multibillion dollar offshore wind development that is 80%
complete (with 506 megawatts installed of the 704 megawatt system) and critical
to the region’s economy and energy future. The Trump administration’s effort to
abruptly halt the project threatens thousands of local jobs, jeopardizes
hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment, and would increase
electricity prices and impact grid reliability across New England.
“Hardworking men and women have dedicated time, effort, and training in a very difficult environment to build this complex offshore wind project,” continued Sabitoni. “The biggest little state in the union has a saying, ‘We are small, but extremely sophisticated.’ Rhode Island is the birthplace of the offshore wind industry, and it’s going to be Rhode Island that sends a message that this is our energy future. We need to continue to provide reliable, cost-effective energy for the citizens of Rhode Island and the New England region.”
Also speaking were Governor Daniel McKee, U.S.
Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse,
Congressmen Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo, Patrick
Crowley, President of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO and
Co-chair of Climate Jobs RI, and Rachel Miller, Chief
External Relations Officer at Building Futures. Dozens of union
workers and climate advocates were also in attendance.
Here’s the video:
Despite the project being 80% complete, with all foundations installed and 45 of 65 turbines standing (with 506 megawatts installed of the 704-megawatt system), the U.S. Department of the Interior abruptly ordered work to stop on Revolution Wind last Friday. The project that has been under development since 2018 has already received every required federal and state permit, following a multi-year review process, including final approval of its Construction and Operations Plan.
“Let’s cut to the chase,” said Rhode Island Governor Daniel
McKee. “The latest move by the Trump Administration is an attack on Rhode
Islanders. It’s an attack on our jobs. It’s an attack on our energy. It attacks
our families and their ability to pay their bills. I want President Trump to
understand that this is about our jobs.”
Governor McKee continued:
“Revolution Wind has already created over a thousand union
jobs, and we don’t just mean construction here in Quonset. Ørsted has an
operations and maintenance center that will be supporting jobs for as long as
the turbines are generating power. And let’s not forget the ripple effect.
Revolution Wind workers will be participating in and supporting local
businesses in the long term.
“This is an attack on renewable energy generated right here
in New England. Rhode Island doesn’t have oil wells. It doesn’t have easy
access to natural gas. What it has is this. We have an ocean in our backyard,
we have solar over our heads, and we have the energy of wind moving between the
two of them. This is energy we can harness to power homes and businesses. It is
renewable, clean, and in line with our climate goals.
“People are struggling to pay their utility bills, and
energy costs continue to be a burden on our businesses and residents.
Revolution Wind is not a dream. Revolution Wind is a reality, and it’s 80%
complete. Rhode Island and Connecticut are counting on this energy to bring
down costs for our residents.
“The kilowatt cost of this project is under 10 cents. Last
winter, our kilowatt cost was closer to 15, 16, 17 cents. This is going to make
a big difference for our state. Rhode Island and Connecticut have 20-year
purchase agreements in place.
“About an hour ago, Governor Ned Lamont held
a similar event in Connecticut to share the same message. This project was in
the works for years before I became governor. Stopping now is like running a
marathon and sitting down when you see the finish line. It makes no sense.
Stopping directly hits Rhode Island, our jobs, our economy, and our families.
“Let’s talk about Ørsted for a minute. What kind of message
is the Trump Administration sending to international companies that want to
invest in our economy? Ørsted reports that for its American projects, they have
already invested $20 billion in the U.S. supply chain...
“This is a reckless policy decision. Here in Rhode Island,
it feels personal.
“Our jobs, energy, and families will all be negatively
impacted if this stoppage does not end - and it should end now. Everyone here
today is united in pursuing every possible avenue to get this critical project
across the finish line. What’s at stake is creating the good-paying jobs people
need. That will pay dividends for decades to come.
“This action immediately threw hundreds of workers out of
work, with thousands more jobs across New England at risk if construction
remains stalled. Revolution Wind has supported over 1,000 union jobs and 2
million labor union hours, driving $20 billion in national clean energy
investment by Ørsted across more than 40 states.”
Once completed, Revolution Wind will power 350,000 homes in
Rhode Island and Connecticut with reliable, affordable, union-built energy. The
project also underpins nearly $1.3 billion in state investment, new
shipbuilding jobs, and critical upgrades to Rhode Island’s ports, shipyards,
and supply chain.
“We are all standing here for jobs, our climate, and the
cost of living of the average working family,” said U.S. Senator Jack
Reed (Democrat, Rhode Island). “What’s standing against this? An
irresponsible decision by the president. We are on the side of the people of
Rhode Island. He is on the side of big oil companies...
“This is reckless. This project is 80% completed. There’s no
turning back. What does he want? 45 towers in the middle of the Long Island
Sound as a symbol of his power? The towers are inert, inactive…”
“Like him!” yelled a person in the crowd, to laughter.
Senator Reed continued:
“We’re not going to let this happen. We’re going to do all
we can to fight back, and we’re proud to be here with all the union people who
have made this project so successful in terms of costs, budget, and time. We’re
proud of you, but this will hurt us so badly.
“The loss of the jobs: People went to sleep Friday night,
and guess what? They didn’t have a job on Saturday morning. They didn’t have
healthcare, didn’t have this, didn’t have that.
“It’s jobs, but it’s also the affordability of our energy so
that a family can get by. This will raise the price of energy, [but] that might
be the rationale for it, because all that money goes into the pocket of big
oil. Trump claims he stopped the work because the project raised national
security concerns. After a careful review, the Department of Defense approved
this project on December 13th, 2024. It’s not about national security. It’s
about the president’s insecurity.
“What is a threat to our national security is oil,
controlled by OPEC and foreign countries, which have animosity towards us.
We’re letting them set the price we must pay - a national security issue.
“We are here because this makes sense economically, in terms
of our climate and our future. What the president has done is reckless, and
we’ll do our best to turn it around.”
It’s not about national security. It’s about the
president’s insecurity.
“The governor said this feels personal - and it does,” said
United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, Rhode
Island). “Some of us have been working since the early days of Deepwater Wind,
when Grover Fugate and Jen McCann were
figuring out how you could site offshore wind in America. When Rhode Island
solved that problem, the whole industry developed with wonderful, paying jobs.
Now, one person in the White House, running a political errand for the fossil
fuel industry, is trying to knock that down. He can try, but he will not
succeed.”
Senator Whitehouse continued:
“This is a blow to Rhode Island. It is a deliberate blow,
but it’s also collateral damage. We’re just in the way of this president
serving his fossil fuel donors who gave him hundreds of millions of dollars so
that they, a polluting, high cost industry in distress, can eek out a few more
years against their cleaner and less expensive clean energy competition.
“There used to be a day when Republicans said the government
should not intervene in the marketplace and pick winners and losers. But when
fossil fuel donors want to use the government’s boot to stamp down a rival that
is displacing fossil fuel with cheaper, better, and cleaner energy, they go
right to the government, and Trump, with his pockets full of fossil fuel money,
is only too happy to oblige.
“We will find out, I suspect, what the cost is. When Trump
pulled this stunt in New York, the cost was that the governor had to clear
a couple of pipelines for the fossil fuel industry. We are in, I
think, the opening stages of what I would’ve referred to as extortion in my law
enforcement days, and as a student of history, I will refer to it as what the
founding fathers would’ve called it: corruption.
“This order is not on the merits or legitimate. We are
taking a real blow as a result of the fossil fuel industry’s corruption
dictating to the Trump Administration what they should be doing. I hope that
labor, around America, sees this choice. These offshore wind projects were done
with project labor agreements, support from labor unions, and with well-paying
labor jobs with talented people making it happen.
“The choice is between extending fossil fuels’ useful life a few years because it gives money to Republicans and supporting this remarkable new technology and the labor force that supports it. The Trump Administration made its choice, and labor, around the country, I hope, is bearing witness to what is going on here.
“By stopping the Revolution Wind project, Donald Trump is
putting America last,” said United States Representative Seth Magaziner (Democrat,
Rhode Island). “He is putting American workers on the unemployment line. He is
raising America and Rhode Island’s energy costs.”
Representative Magaziner continued:
“Who is he helping? Our enemies. He’s helping Vladimir
Putin. He’s helping China. He is helping our adversaries instead of helping
Americans.
“What do I mean? We are in a race with China right now on
AI. We need to build data centers. Electricity production will determine who
controls the course of the world over the next century. And Trump expects us to
fight this battle with one hand tied behind our back by blocking American-made
energy from reaching the grid. If we cannot access affordable, clean,
American-made energy that has already been built offshore, where will we go?
Saudi Arabia? Russia?
“By driving up the demand for oil instead of American-made
clean wind power, Trump is helping to fund Putin’s war in Ukraine. He is
helping our adversaries at the expense of American jobs, energy independence,
and affordability. Those are the stakes here. Yes, this is about Rhode Island
ensuring that Rwe have cheaper energy and better paying jobs, but also about
making sure that America can compete. To compete, we need more affordable clean
energy like Revolution Wind, not less.
“I have contacted my colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee. They understand the seriousness of the situation. They understand that if this illegal, wrongheaded stoppage continues, it will not just hurt offshore wind in Rhode Island. It will hurt clean energy production across the country because it sends a chilling message that the United States government, under Donald Trump, does not honor its word. And that is a killer for development and business across the entire country.”
“Let us all be clear: This stop-work order is not about one
man or administration. It’s about hundreds of union workers being told to stop
working,” said United States Representative Gabe Amo (Democrat,
Rhode Island). “For the families of those workers who rely on hard-earned
paychecks to help them pursue that elusive American dream, that is now further
away today. It is about the hundreds of workers ready to be the next generation
of labor leaders. It’s about credentialing programs at CCRI and offshore wind
engineering programs at URI, where students invest their time and energy in a
career.”
Representative Amo continued:
“Let’s be very clear: A career in offshore wind is about the
future of Rhode Islanders and families across New England who are going to face
rate hikes if a critical, union-built energy source of reliable, affordable
power is delayed.
“This is also about ignoring our climate crisis. It is a
clear attack on our state’s pathway to a clean energy future. [The focus] has
to be about who is harmed. It has to be about the union workers who were kicked
to the unemployment lines. It has to do with the families who will be facing
higher energy bills this winter. And of course, the years of blood, sweat,
tears, and the billions of dollars of investment in a nearly completed project.
“This project must go on. We’re not going to stop. We can’t afford to stop. Our future, economy, and the people we care about most depend on our efforts. We’re not going to let any president oradministration increase energy costs, force workers into the unemployment lines, and make it harder to get by when we know it’s tougher than ever.”
This work stoppage threatens local jobs, energy
affordability, and critical training and career pathways for local
tradespeople. The futures of hundreds of workers who have received specialized
training to prepare for lifelong careers in offshore wind hang in the balance
from this stop-work order.
“Building Futures is here for a singular and urgent reason:
Rhode Island must grow its construction workforce,” said Rachel Miller,
Chief External Relations Officer at Building Futures. “In Rhode
Island, the largest age group working in construction is 55+. Between folks
retiring and the demand for new jobs, we expect 25,000 openings by 2032.
Building Futures takes that on in two ways: We train men and women for careers
in construction through our pre-apprenticeship program, ensure that people
experiencing poverty and people who need opportunity connect to outstanding
careers that reward hard work, and raise incomes and standards for families and
communities.”
Miller continued:
“We work with employers who are committed to the registered
apprenticeship model. We build our workforce one project at a time. Ørsted has
been an outstanding partner in understanding and recognizing that we must use
registered apprentices to build our clean energy future. They have been so
committed that before a single cable was laid, they put their money on the line
for a training program for Rhode Island Workers Building Futures. Ørsted worked
with the members of the Building and Construction Trades Council. Ørsted, with
support from the Real Jobs Rhode Island program, trained over 220 people. That
was a big investment. Before a single cable was laid, that was a nearly
$1,950,000 investment on training, like a week-long Global Wind
Organization, basic safety training, helicopter underwater escape training,
and medical training. And that was just this project, not to mention the work
that CCRI did to establish our Rhode Island Global Wind Organization facility.
“When we talk about opportunities and creating pathways for
families who need them, we’re talking about the whole state, economy, and
workforce. We can’t afford to turn back on this investment. We can’t afford to
stop the economic opportunities Revolution Wind brought to Rhode Island. We
can’t afford to miss this opportunity to build Rhode Island’s construction
workforce and raise Rhode Island wages.”
“My bag is ready because I was supposed to be leaving in three days to go back [to the project]," said Tony Vaz, a worker who was to spend weeks constructing the wind project. “Now I don’t know what’s going to happen, but all these people behind me have faith that they’re going to make it happen, and I will be going out again. I have a well-paid job and a great opportunity thanks to Building Futures. They put on tremendous training together with the carpenters. I’m very proud of that training that was provided.” To the politicians and union leaders: “Please, guys, make it happen. We need to get out there and keep working. That’s how we’re going to build America.”
“There are a thousand, good-paying union jobs on the line
right now,” said Patrick Crowley, President of the Rhode
Island AFL-CIO. “Jobs that will not only build this project but will build
a clean energy future for Rhode Island. I don’t know what that person in
Washington is thinking, but I know one potential headline I will see: “Small
Man Takes on Small State and Small State Wins.”
Crowley continued:
“Donald Trump doesn’t understand that he did not just take
on a Danish company or a project; he took on the entire State of Rhode Island.
“This has nothing to do with the art of the deal. This is
all about the art of the steal. He’s not just stealing this job from us. He’s
stealing our present and future.
“I have one last thing to say to President Trump: You want
to take on Rhode Island? You’re going to have to come through the people here.
You are going to have to take on the entire labor movement. You’ll have to take
on the people of Rhode Island because we won’t sit down and take this lightly.
We will fight you every step of the way, no matter how long it takes. That’s
what Rhode Islanders do. Let’s ensure we send one message to Donald Trump: We
will prevail. Solidarity forever.”
Yes to Revolution Wind Rally
Climate
Action Rhode Island’s ‘Yes to Wind’ campaign will host a protest
at Queen Anne Square in Newport to oppose the Trump
administration’s stop-work order for the nearly-complete Revolution Wind
offshore wind project.
Where: Queen Anne Square, Newport, RI (51 Touro Street)
When: Tuesday, August 26, at 5:30 pm
Organizers write:
“The event will feature remarks from Rhode Island elected
officials and community leaders, highlighting the project’s importance for
lowering energy costs, creating good jobs, and securing Rhode Island’s energy
future with offshore wind.
“Wear your green CARI shirts and bring signs! We will also have YES lawn signs.”
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