Amid a blizzard of executive orders issued on Monday after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump moved to halt the development of offshore wind power by temporarily suspending the sale of any new leases for wind farms in waters of the Outer Continental Shelf.
The executive order also directed a comprehensive review of existing leases to report on terminating or amending them, and identifying legal bases for doing so on grounds of “ecological, economic, and environmental necessity”.
The order also suspended the issuing of new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore and offshore wind projects pending a comprehensive assessment of leasing and permitting practices led by the Secretary of the Interior.
The assessment will consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects on “wildlife, including, but not limited to, birds and marine mammals”.
Before the November election, Trump claimed repeatedly and without evidence that wind turbines harmed whales.
The assessment will also consider “the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry”.
It’s not clear yet how this executive order will affect projects like Equinor’s $5bn Empire Wind scheme off the coast of New York. Equinor acquired the lease for it in 2017.
The order was needed, the order said, “to foster an energy economy capable of meeting the country’s growing demand for reliable energy, the importance of marine life, impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns, effects on energy costs for Americans – especially those who can least afford it –- and to ensure that the United States is able to maintain a robust fishing industry for future generations and provide low cost energy to its citizens”.
Clean Power Association responds
In response, Jason Grumet, chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, issued a statement saying: “ACP strongly opposes blanket measures to halt or impede development of domestic wind energy on federal lands and waters.
“The contradiction between the energy-focused Executive Orders is stark: while on one hand the Administration seeks to reduce bureaucracy and unleash energy production, on the other it increases bureaucratic barriers, undermining domestic energy development and harming American businesses and workers.
“The possibility that the federal government could seek to actively oppose energy production by American companies on private land is at odds with our nation’s character as well as our national interests.”
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