Trump administration targets offshore wind farms, citing national security concerns
The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced it will “pause” leases at five large offshore wind farms, threatening the fast-growing clean energy industry.
Turbine pilot project for Coastal Virginia's offshore wind program, scheduled for completion in 2026.
Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
The Trump administration announced Monday that “pause – takes effect immediatelylease of five large offshore companies wind power plants being built off the east coast. In a statement, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cited “emerging national security risks” as the reason for the decision, but the agency did not provide any evidence of what risks were found.
The five projects affected by the pause are located offshore in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia. About 5.8 gigawatts The U.S. was expected to have enough offshore wind power between 2025 and 2029 to power millions of homes along the East Coast. Since 2021, approximately $10 billion has been invested in the U.S. wind energy sector. The Trump administration's decision jeopardizes both these investments and future energy capacity.
A statement announcing the decision on Monday said wind turbines cause “interference” on radar. Department of Energy 2024 report who studied the effect of wind turbines on radar systems.
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This report warns that interference from wind turbines in the line-of-sight of defense and civilian radar systems can cause interference and lead to false alarms. The report notes that one strategy to mitigate this problem is to lower radar detection thresholds, which reduces interference but may result in missing “real targets.” Another option suggested in the report is to ensure that wind farms are not built in radar line-of-sight.
“We shouldn't overload America's largest source of renewable energy, especially when we need more low-cost, domestic electricity,” said Ted Kelly of Clean Energy USA at the Environmental Defense Fund. statement. “Instead, the administration has baselessly and illegally attacked the wind industry,” he added.
One of the affected projects, an offshore wind farm project in coastal Virginia, was placed “in close coordination with the military,” according to a spokesman for Dominion Energy, which operates the wind farm, in comments to the publication. That New York Times. Indeed, wind farm operators, scientists and the military are collaborating to minimize the radar impact of wind farms. for decades. Burgum told Fox Business on Monday that the decision to pause the projects was made because the Department of Defense “has concluded that… these large offshore wind programs are creating radar interference.”
The Interior and Defense Departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Editor's note: This article is under development and may be updated.
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