In the Press...
Shorebeat article on Trump administration's halting of offshore wind projects'Trump Halts Construction of Remaining Offshore Wind Project Off N.J.'By Daniel Nee President Donald Trump halted numerous offshore wind projects on Monday, citing national security concerns, officials said. The decision led to cheers from U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who has lobbied against the projects for years, and with consternation from some environmental groups that favored the projects. The order from Trump’s administration will stop five major offshore wind farms — including Empire Wind, located offshore in the New York bight, roughly between Monmouth County and portions of southern Long Island. Unlike some other wind projects, proposed and approved, Empire Wind would not likely have been visible from the New Jersey coast. Offshore wind development has been a persistent source of partisan wrangling, favored by New Jersey Democrats as well as officials in the former Biden administration. Trump, and GOP congressional leaders, pledged to eliminate the leases of offshore territory after concerns grew over potential negative effects on marine mammals, as well as subsidies for its foreign owner, the Norwegian firm Equinor. An executive order shutting down the projects has bounced between courtrooms since Trump took office in 2025, with the administration suffering a loss in court earlier this month when Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Patti Saris, appointed by President Bill Clinton, struck down the order. The decision is expected to be appealed, but Monday’s order effectively accomplishes the abolition of the projects – at least in the immediate future – for reasons related to national security.
The Department of the Interior halted the projects to allow for a “pause” so a review could be conducted in conjunction with the Department of Defense (War). Critics of the offshore development, most prominently Smith, have raised concerns that the massive turbines atop the structures could create radar clutter in busy airspace, most notably affecting Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a major transit point for materiel between the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. “I am grateful to President Donald Trump and Secretary Doug Burgum for their leadership in assessing ocean wind’s threats to national security and radar interference,” Smith said. “As I have argued from day one — ocean wind projects pose significant, catastrophic impacts to radar, putting military and civilian aircrafts and vessels at grave risk.”
Those in favor of the projects have said the matter had already been the subject of reviews by the U.S. Coast Guard under the previous administration, which did not identify any issues with radar clutter or interference. “The administration is again illegally blocking clean, affordable energy,” said Ted Kelly of the Environmental Defense Council. “Placing largely foreign-owned wind turbines along our coastlines was never acceptable,” countered Robin Shaffer, President of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, largely echoing the concerns raised by Smith. The other four projects are located in far eastern Long Island, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia. Previous offshore wind development projects off the coast of New Jersey have faltered for economic reasons, including Leading Light Wind and Ocean Wind I and II, which were to be developed by Danish multinational energy company Ørsted. Dutch conglomerate Shell announced its exit from another New Jersey offshore wind project, Atlantic Shores, in October, however that project remains in limbo rather than suffering from an outright cancellation. |
