Just prior to the presidential inauguration, New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew announced that he had been working closely with President-elect Donald Trump on drafting an executive order to halt offshore wind turbine activities along the East Coast and lay the groundwork for permanent measures against the projects.
“These offshore wind projects should have never been approved in the first place,” said Congressman Van Drew. “The Biden administration rammed them through the approval process without proper oversight, transparent lease agreements, or a full understanding of their devastating consequences. They are an economic and environmental disaster waiting to happen.”
In a January 13th press release, Rep. Van Drew said the incoming president was committed to stopping these harmful projects, noting how a presidential executive order was just the beginning of the effort. “We will fight tooth and nail to prevent this offshore wind catastrophe from wreaking havoc on the hardworking people who call our coastal towns home,” Rep. Van Drew noted.
In October of 2023, the Danish energy giant Ørsted announced that they were abandoning their Ocean Wind One project off South Jersey, which Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio said was welcome news for South Jersey’s fishing and tourism industries. “By Ørsted’s own calculation, Cape May County was facing a loss of over $1 billion in tourism revenue,” Desiderio said, adding “Our fisheries industry was facing millions of dollars in losses.”
What will this mean for the wind projects currently well underway off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts? “That’s the million dollar question,” said Bill Thompson, cofounder and vice president of the wind opposition group Green Oceans, “The hope is that, aside from him blocking any unpermitted projects, he can hobble the existing ones by enforcing the decommissioning bond, citing national security (radar interference/line of sight issues). I’m sure the wind developers have thought of and prepared for these scenarios as well. Everyone has approached this incoming administration with draft executive orders, including us.” He went on to say, “I’m guessing that if it comes down to decommissioning, the enviros and the wind developers will argue that it will be too harmful to marine life!”
And now we wait.