Summary
- Trump administration halts nearly complete Rhode Island wind project.
- Project 80% finished, key to regional clean energy goals.
- The federal order cites unspecified national security concerns.
- Developers and state officials plan legal challenges.
According to Danish wind farm developer Orsted, 45 of the 65 turbines in the Revolution Wind project have already been placed, making the project around 80% finished.
Even though the project had passed years of federal and state reviews, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued the order Friday, stating that the federal government must review the project and "address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States."
The nature of the national security issues was not made clear.
President Donald Trump has taken broad actions to put fossil fuels first and obstruct renewable energy initiatives. In a recent social media post, Trump referred to wind and solar energy as "THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!" and promised not to support the wind.
In order to prevent the worst consequences of climate change, such as severe heat and drought, larger and more powerful wildfires, and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons, and rainstorms that cause catastrophic flooding, scientists from all over the world concur that countries must quickly adopt renewable energy.
The governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut, Dan McKee and Ned Lamont, respectively, "will pursue every avenue to reverse the decision to halt work on Revolution Wind" in a post on X, criticizing the stop-work order. Both governors are Democrats.
Revolution Wind's construction was scheduled to start in 2023 and be completed the following year. According to Orsted, it is assessing the financial effects of halting construction and is thinking about taking legal action.
"This arbitrary decision defies all logic and reason — Revolution Wind's project was already well underway and employed hundreds of skilled tradesmen and women. This is a major setback for a critical project in Connecticut, and I will fight it,"
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Wind power is the largest source of renewable energy in the U.S. and provides about 10% of the electricity generated in the nation.
"Today, the U.S. has only one fully operational large-scale offshore wind project producing power. That is not enough to meet America's rising energy needs. We need more energy of all types, including oil and gas, wind, and new and emerging technologies,"
said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a group that supports offshore oil, gas and wind.
This is the second major offshore wind project the White House has halted. Work was stopped on Empire Wind, a New York offshore wind project, but construction was allowed to resume after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, intervened.
"This administration has it exactly backwards. It's trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power,"
said Kit Kennedy, managing director for the power division at Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement.
"Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided decisions."
What specific national security concerns did BOEM cite for the stop-work order?
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) cited concerns related to national security as the reason for the stop-work order on the Revolution Wind offshore project near Rhode Island.
These concerns appear to be focused on potential impacts on military and naval capabilities, though BOEM did not provide detailed specifics in the stop-work letter signed by acting director Matthew Giacona.
The stop-work order is part of a broader Trump administration review of offshore wind projects initiated by a January 2025 presidential memorandum aimed at reassessing the environmental, economic, and security implications of such developments.