The Transportation Department on Friday canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest attack by the Trump administration on the reeling U.S. offshore wind industry.
Funding for projects in 11 states was rescinded, including $435 million for a floating wind farm in Northern California and $47 million to boost an offshore wind project in Maryland that the Interior Department has pledged to cancel.
President Donald Trump has vowed to restore U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market and has pushed to increase U.S. reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.
California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called Duffy’s action “outrageous” and deeply disappointing.
Trump and his Cabinet “have a stubborn and mystifying hatred of clean energy,” Huffman said in an interview. “It’s so dogmatic. They are willing to eliminate thousands of jobs and an entire sector that can bring cheap, reliable power to American consumers.”
The canceled funding will be redirected to upgrade ports and other infrastructure in the U.S., where possible, the Transportation Department said.
Separately, Trump’s Energy Department said Friday it is withdrawing a $716 million loan guarantee approved by the Biden administration to upgrade and expand transmission infrastructure to accommodate a now-threatened offshore wind project in New Jersey.
Trump has long expressed disdain for wind power, frequently calling it an ugly and expensive form of energy that “smart” countries don’t use.
“We’re not allowing any windmills to go up unless there’s a legal situation where somebody committed to it a long time ago,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Revolution Wind was expected to be Rhode Island and Connecticut’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, capable of powering more than 350,000 homes. In addition to hampering the states’ climate goals, losing out on all that renewable power could drive up electricity prices throughout the region, Democratic officials say.
Some critics say the steps to cancel projects put Americans’ livelihoods at risk.
“It’s an attack on our jobs,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said of the move to stop construction of Revolution Wind. “It’s an attack on our energy. It’s an attack on our families and their ability to pay the bills.”
Patrick Crowley, president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said his union is “going to fight (Trump) every step of the way, no matter how long it takes.”
