President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to shut down the offshore wind industry. Before he even took office, the region saw an impact. Last Friday, a company announced it was abandoning plans to build a factory in Somerset that would’ve supplied undersea cables to American offshore wind farms.
Then, on Monday, during his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order on offshore wind, declaring that his administration wouldn’t permit any new offshore wind farms.
But what does Trump’s executive order mean for the dozens of offshore wind farms that were already under development? Attorney Drew Minciewicz of Black Point Maritime Law discusses that question with The Public’s Radio South Coast Bureau Reporter Ben Berke.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Ben Berke: What did Trump say about the offshore wind industry when he was on the campaign trail?
Drew Minciewicz: Trump could be quoted as being very dismissive of offshore wind. I think he referred to the turbines as quite ugly. He said they were driving the whales batty. He did proclaim on several occasions that he was going to not allow any offshore wind to be developed during his presidency.
Berke: And what are the legal parameters he’s operating within in the offshore wind space?
Minciewicz: The regulations are actually originally promulgated during the Obama administration. The interesting thing though about offshore wind unlike other lease programs was that they made kind of a Faustian bargain with the way they set it up to create expediency and to get this industry going forward. They made it so that when you buy the lease, a lot of the work isn’t done. They just designate the area that they’re talking about leasing and all the environmental analysis, all the other hard work happens after the lease sale, and that was done purposefully to try and get things moving. But it’s kind of interesting to see if they end up regretting that decision, because with Trump in place, part of the executive order is the mandate to analyze the existing leases and see if they fall short or not.
Berke: What exactly does the executive orders say about the numerous offshore wind farms that are in early stages of development right now?
Minciewicz: Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind and SouthCoast Wind got their construction and operations plans approved right on the twilight of the last administration on Friday, so they have permits. Now they have something concrete from the federal government. And so that’s where an executive order can’t just waive a permit, can’t just waive a regulation. For them to rescind a permit — for them to rescind the construction and operations plan — there is a detailed process and there has to be a rationale. The facts have to support the decisions that they’re making. If you’re a holder of one of these permits, you will challenge that at every step of the way, and you’re allowed to throughout the process, and it will be a drawn out fight if the Trump administration does try to remove permits.
Berke: For the handful of offshore wind farms that are already under construction, like Vineyard Wind, and Revolution Wind, do we know if the president has the power to stop active construction?
Minciewicz: The power he has is the power that exists under the statutory and regulatory regime. So for instance, Vineyard Wind was stopped during the Biden administration for construction because they had the accident with the blade failure that gave them grounds to put in a stop work order. They were only allowed to resume operations just last week, with the conditions that they have to replace all the blades that were fabricated in the Quebec factory. So if some fact pattern of that nature arises, then yes, the Trump administration absolutely has the right to stop construction moving forward. But as far as: Can you wake up tomorrow and say, “I don’t want this and I don’t have a reason?” No, that power doesn’t exist. There has to be a reason.
Berke: Do we have any insight into what fact patterns the Trump administration may be looking to to form a basis for halting ongoing offshore wind development?
Minciewicz: One of the ongoing criticisms of offshore wind is there wasn’t baseline research done on the environmental impacts. Regardless of what you believe is causing it, the fact of the matter is there are a lot of whales washing up. There is a declared unusual mortality event with whales. Would the Trump administration use researching that as a basis for putting a hold on things and as a basis until they can figure out what’s going on there? We’ll see.
Berke: Do we know yet what the real impact of this executive order will be on offshore wind development in the U.S.?
Minciewicz: No. Not at all. A lot can happen in four years. Developers are obviously making decisions. Will this have a chilling effect? Will they move on to greener pastures where there’s less resistance? In one area off the Mid Atlantic, a company invested a billion dollars in that lease. They’ve not generated any revenue. They do not have the permits to start construction. So are they going to walk away from a billion dollars? Or if you invest a billion dollars, do you wait it out four years and see what happens? I don’t know.
