Wind turbines operate in July at the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.
Caroline Custer/AP
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Carolyn Custer/AP
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Monday it is suspending leases for five major offshore wind projects being built along the East Coast because of what it said were national security risks identified by the Pentagon.
The pause, effective immediately, is the latest step the administration has taken to thwart the offshore wind industry's fight against renewable energy. It comes two weeks after a federal judge overturned President Donald Trump's executive order blocking wind energy projects, calling it illegal.
The administration said the pause will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to evaluate possible ways to mitigate any security risks associated with the projects.
“The primary responsibility of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Today’s actions address emerging national security threats, including the rapid development of related adversarial technologies and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects in close proximity to populated areas on our East Coast.”
The statement did not specify national security risks.
Wind energy advocates criticized the move, saying it was another blow by the administration to clean energy.
The administration said leases were suspended for the Vineyard Wind project under construction in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind and two projects in New York: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind.
The Interior Department said unclassified U.S. government reports have long established that the highly reflective movements of massive turbine blades and towers create radar interference called “jamming.” According to the Department of the Interior, the confusion caused by offshore wind projects is hiding legitimate moving targets and creating decoys near wind projects.
National security expert and former commander of the USS Cole Kirk Lippold said the projects received permits “after years of review by state and federal agencies,” including the Coast Guard, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Air Force and others.
“All decisions made show that the Department of Defense was consulted at every stage of the permitting process,” he said, arguing that the projects would benefit national security by diversifying the country's energy supply.
The action came two weeks after a federal judge overturned a Trump executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to stop virtually all wind farm leases on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated U.S. law.
Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts overturned Trump's Jan. 20 order blocking wind energy projects and declared it illegal.
Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who challenged Trump's Day One executive order that suspended leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.
Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, especially offshore wind, and has prioritized fossil fuels for electricity generation.
Wind energy advocates called the administration's actions illegal and said offshore wind provides the most affordable and reliable power for the grid.
“For nearly a year, the Trump administration has recklessly prevented the creation of clean, affordable electricity for millions of Americans while the nation's need for electricity grows,” said Ted Kelly of the Environmental Defense Fund.
“Now the administration is once again illegally blocking clean, affordable energy,” Kelly said. “We must not overload America's largest source of renewable energy, especially when we need more low-cost, home-produced electricity.”
The administration's actions are especially egregious because at the same time it is propping up aging, expensive coal-fired power plants “that barely operate and pollute our air,” Kelly said.
The Conservation Law Foundation, a Boston-based environmental group, called the pause “a desperate repeat of the Trump administration's failed attempt to kill offshore wind,” noting that courts have already rejected the administration's arguments.
“Attempting to stop these projects again flouts the rule of law, threatens jobs and deliberately sabotages a critical industry that strengthens, not weakens, America’s energy security,” said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president of law and policy at the Legal Foundation.
