The reason for the stoppage - national security
By Bonnie Phillips / ecoRI News staff
 |
| Maybe Trump would approve the project if we add lasers, cannons, lots of gold leaf and name it after him. |
The Interior Department said it is pausing all leases for
large-scale offshore wind projects that are currently under construction,
affecting the Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind,
Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind 1 projects.
U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island, a member of the
House Natural Resources Committee, said Monday, “At a time when working people
in Rhode Island are struggling with high costs on everything, Trump should not
be canceling energy projects that are nearly ready to deliver reliable power to
the grid at below-market rates and help lower costs.”
Christian Roselund, co-leader of Climate Action Rhode
Island’s Yes to Wind campaign, said Monday, “Donald Trump is getting
desperate. The Trump administration’s new attempt to freeze offshore wind
projects under construction – after courts quickly threw out the last stop work
order on Revolution Wind – shows again that he doesn’t understand what it means
to be a U.S. president and that he wants instead to be a dictator.”
Work on the project was initially halted Aug. 22 when the federal Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order for what it said were
national security concerns. It didn’t specify those concerns, but Interior
Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN that he worries offshore wind turbines distort radar detection
systems and therefore could allow a “drone attack through a wind farm.”
Burgum again Monday claimed his department’s decision is
aimed at protecting the American people.
“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks,
including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the
vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity
near our East Coast population centers,” he said in a statement.
“It’s hard to see the difference between these new alleged
radar-related national security concerns and the radar-related national
security allegations the Trump administration lost in court, a position so weak
that they declined to appeal their defeat. This looks more like the kind
of vindictive harassment we have come to expect from the Trump administration
than anything legitimate. This is President Donald ‘Stop Work’ Trump
trying to keep affordable, clean energy off the grid, without a care about how
many working people have to lose their jobs to keep his fossil fuel
billionaires happy,” said Whitehouse.
“Claims that the Revolution Wind Project or other offshore
wind projects pose national security concerns are unfounded. The Department of
Defense thoroughly reviewed and signed off on this project during the
permitting and approval process,” Magaziner said Monday.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo of R.I. said, “Trump’s attacks on
Revolution Wind are not based on science and facts. The dministration is
putting forward disingenuous arguments about ‘national security’ to try to kill
this project simply because Donald Trump doesn’t like offshore wind.”
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member of the Senate’s
Armed Services Committee, has also noted the national security concerns were
unfounded. The Department of Defense had given its approval for Revolution
Wind, indicating it had no national security concerns, last December. The
stop-work order, said Reed at the time, would wreak havoc on Rhode Island’s
economy and the region’s energy needs.
“It’s not about national security, it’s about this
president’s insecurity,” Reed said. “Do you know what’s a threat to national
security? Our reliance on countries in OPEC and other nations that have
animosity toward us.”
R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha and Connecticut Attorney
General William Tong filed a lawsuit over the work stoppage in August, accusing
Trump of waging an “all-out assault” on the wind energy industry. The
states’ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island,
described the project as a “cornerstone” of their renewable energy goals that
was suddenly stopped by federal officials without “statutory authority,
regulatory justification or factual basis.”
After learning about Trump’s order Monday, Neronha said his
office is reviewing it, saying, “Today’s surprise suspension order affecting
nearly a half-dozen of America’s wind energy sites … including Revolution Wind
… is yet another attempt by this president to continue his all-out assault on
wind energy. The actions of this administration have undercut our clean energy
infrastructure, causing Rhode Islanders to pay the price – in the cost of
ever-increasing energy bills, placing well-paying jobs in jeopardy, and
preventing a future of domestic clean energy production. The courts have
already reaffirmed what we have known to be true since day one: that this
president cannot cancel clean energy projects just because he believes doing so
is politically expedient for him.”
Danish energy company Ørsted, Revolution Wind’s developer,
filed a separate suit in August in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.,
also arguing that the Trump administration lacked the legal
authority to block the project. Ørsted said Revolution Wind faced “substantial
harm” from the stop-work order and sought a preliminary injunction to allow it
to move forward with the project, which was then 80% complete, with all
underwater foundations and 45 of 65 turbines installed.
Meaghan Wims, a spokesperson for Ørsted, said the project
secured all required federal and state permits in 2023, following reviews that
began more than nine years ago. “Federal reviews and approvals included the
U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
National Marine Fisheries Service, and several other agencies. Revolution Wind
has spent and committed billions of dollars in reliance upon this fulsome
review process,” she said.
On Sept. 22, federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia issued a stay on the Aug. 22
stop-work order.
“Revolution Wind has demonstrated likelihood of success on
the merits of its underlying claims, it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in
the absence of an injunction, the balance of the equities is in its favor and
maintaining the status quo by granting the injunction is in the public
interest,” wrote Lamberth in his order.
The Trump administration hasn’t hidden its hostility to
offshore wind projects. The project, along with nearby Sunrise Wind and
SouthCoast Wind, were perceived as relatively safe from federal interference
under the second Trump administration. All three projects had their major
federal permits already in hand, with the Biden administration issuing its
final major permit approval for SouthCoast Wind just days before Trump’s
inauguration.
Rhode Island needs the Revolution Wind project if it’s going
to meet its renewable energy goals and reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions associated with electricity consumption. Around 18.6% of all
emissions produced in R.I. stem from resident and business consumption of
electricity, most of which comes from natural gas-fired power plants located
outside of the state.
Rhode Island’s Act on Climate law requires the state to
reduce its GHG emissions by 45% under 1990 levels by the end of this decade, a
benchmark which becomes far more impossible to achieve without a major
renewable energy generator supplying electricity to the state.
The Revolution Wind stoppage “is just another example of the
Trump administration needlessly driving up costs for working people,” Magaziner
said Monday.
“Trump is increasingly out of touch with what Americans want
and need: reliable, affordable power. At a time when New England families are
already facing high energy bills, blocking offshore wind will only push
electricity costs higher. Offshore wind is one of the most effective tools we
have to stabilize prices, meet rising energy demand, and protect our air and
oceans. This decision injects uncertainty into projects that have undergone
years of review and public engagement, and it runs counter to what Americans
want and need: abundant, clean, affordable energy. The administration should be
focused on lowering energy costs for consumers, not standing in the way of
ready solutions,” Roselund said.
The Rhode Island AFL-CIO and Climate Jobs Rhode Island
expressed serious concern following Monday’s announcement.
“This politically motivated and chaotic decision comes at
the worst possible time – right before the holidays,” said Patrick Crowley,
president of the R.I. AFL-CIO. “This announcement affects major offshore wind
projects up and down the East Coast. Together, these projects represent
billions of dollars in investment and thousands of union jobs in construction,
manufacturing, and operations.
“This is not the first time this administration has tried to
shut down offshore wind, and it will not be the last unless we continue to push
back,” Crowley added. “We already saw a stop-work order for Revolution
Wind get overturned because it was reckless and unlawful. The result of these
actions remains the same: workers lose hours, families face uncertainty, and
energy prices stay high. Trump doesn’t pay the price for these delays, working
people do.”
The Rhode Island AFL-CIO, in conjunction with Climate Jobs
Rhode Island, recently shared firsthand worker stories about what these jobs
mean to them, their families, and their communities. It also showcases the
consequences of these shutdowns.
The Rhode Island AFL-CIO is calling on the Trump
administration to stop using workers as political pawns and allow offshore wind
construction to move forward.
“For me and all other union members, this is another
demoralizing day, especially during the holiday season. This news just puts
extra unneeded financial stress on all of us,” said Antonio Gianfrancesco, a
union laborer working on Revolution Wind. “We trained for these jobs, we
followed every rule, and we’re doing the work right. We just want to keep
working.”
