In a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this week, Rep. Chris Smith (R-New Jersey) asked why BOEM is moving forward with the approval process for planned offshore wind projects despite President Trump’s January 20th Executive Order calling for a pause and comprehensive review of the full offshore wind approval process.

BOEM announced on January 15^th that they will begin preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), a key piece of the Federal offshore wind approval process and would hold several public meetings for the Vineyard Mid-Atlantic offshore wind project. BOEM has not indicated any intention to cancel this meeting or stop efforts on the EIS despite President Trump’s order which references the need to examine shortcomings in the approval process, including, “potential inadequacies in various environmental reviews.”

Smith said, “Given President Trump’s January 20^th Executive Order, I wish to confirm that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) does not intend to continue with the already questionable approval process for proposed offshore wind projects until or if the pause is released.”

Smith continued, “In the interim, it would seem to reason that BOEM will stop any action related to the Environmental Impact Statement for the Vineyard Mid-Atlantic project off the coast of New Jersey. Similarly, the order appears to indicate the scheduled public meetings on the project set for February 6, 11, and 19 should be cancelled. Does BOEM intend to make this change and if so, how and when will the public be notified?”

Smith who has been for years pointing out the lack of serious scrutiny, proper environmental vetting, and legal deficiency of these projects, has led multiple efforts to secure answers from the Biden Administration on offshore wind. He introduced legislation—which was passed by the House of Representatives in July 2023—that would require presidential certification that offshore wind projects would not “weaken, degrade, interfere with, or nullify the capability of radar relied upon by the Federal Aviation Administration or the Armed Forces.”

Smith has previously expressed his approval of President Trump’s Executive Order on offshore wind and will continue to work to get answers on offshore wind and ensure the white wash of industrializing our oceans can no longer continue.

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