Gov. Maura Healey and 4 of her Northeast counterparts known as on President Donald Trump Monday to “uphold” all permits for offshore wind tasks which have already been granted and to permit building to maneuver ahead.
The plea comes greater than per week after Trump’s Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration halted building on a virtually full offshore wind mission close to Rhode Island, briefly stopped work on a mission close to New York earlier this 12 months, and his administration canceled $34 million in grants to Salem to redevelop a vacant facility into an offshore wind terminal.
Healey and the governors mentioned efforts to stroll again offshore wind tasks “jeopardize hardworking families, wasting years of progress and ceding leadership to foreign competitors.”
“Canceling projects that have already been fully permitted — including some near completion — sends the message to investors that the work can be stopped on a whim, which could lead them to decide to either not finance different projects or impose higher interest rates that would ultimately place a bigger burden on taxpayers,” the governors mentioned.
Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Dan McKee of Rhode Island, and Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed onto the assertion.
The Trump administration has made giant efforts to focus on renewable power tasks and prioritize fossil fuels, together with by reviewing wind and photo voltaic power permits and canceling plans to make use of areas of federal waters for brand new offshore wind improvement.
However scientists throughout the globe contend that nations must quickly embrace renewable power to stave off the worst results of local weather change, together with excessive warmth and drought; bigger, extra intense wildfires; and supercharged hurricanes, typhoons, and rainstorms that result in catastrophic flooding.
Trump halted building on the Revolution Wind improvement close to Rhode Island final month. The mission’s developer, Denmark’s Orsted, mentioned the wind farm is 80% full, with 45 out of 65 generators already put in.
In an Aug. 22 letter to Orsted, Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration Performing Director Matthew Giacona ordered all actions associated to the mission to stop “to allow time for (BOEM) to address concerns that have arisen during the review that the department is undertaking.”
“In particular, BOEM is seeking to address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States and prevention of interference with reasonable uses of the exclusive economic zone, the high seas, and the territorial seas,” Giacona mentioned within the letter.
The letter doesn’t specify what nationwide safety considerations would possibly exist.
A spokesperson for Orsted mentioned the corporate is complying with the order and “taking appropriate steps to stop offshore activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment.”
“Orsted is evaluating the potential financial implications of this development, considering a range of scenarios, including legal proceedings,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement the day the cease work order was issued.
Orsted mentioned the mission obtained closing federal approval final 12 months.
Revolution Wind has 20-year energy buy agreements to ship sufficient power to Rhode Island and Connecticut to energy 350,000 properties throughout each states, the corporate mentioned.
Revolution Wind is situated greater than 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast, 32 miles southeast of the Connecticut coast, and 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Winery. Rhode Island is already residence to 1 offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.
The Revolution Wind mission was the most recent main offshore improvement and wind-related effort the White Home has introduced into its crosshairs.
The U.S. Division of Transportation canceled $34 million in investments final month for the Metropolis of Salem to redevelop a vacant industrial facility into an offshore wind terminal, a transfer Healey mentioned would go away 800 building employees with out jobs.
The Trump administration additionally stopped work in April on Empire Wind, a mission off the coast of New York, however let building transfer ahead in Could after Hochul and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York intervened.
Healey, Hochul, Lamont, McKee, and Murphy mentioned employees, companies, and communities “need certainty, not reversals that would cost tens of thousands of American jobs and critical investment.”
“Sudden reversals would also impact countless other workers and taxpayers on scores of non-energy public projects. The U.S. markets operate on certainty,” the governors mentioned.
The governors additionally mentioned they need to make sure that the electrical grid is “reliable, resilient, and affordable.”
“Offshore wind and other renewables are central to that effort, but it must be complemented by a diverse mix of resources — including nuclear power, natural gas, hydropower, and other technologies — that together keep our system strong and our energy sources secure,” the governors mentioned.
Supplies from the Related Press had been used on this report.
