Callie Patteson writes for the Washington Examiner about the election’s potential impact on a questionable energy source.
While offshore wind has faced the ire of Donald Trump for years, culminating with expected rollbacks of federal support in just a few weeks’ time, the industry remains surprisingly optimistic that the renewable power source will play a key role in the president-elect’s energy strategy.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to target offshore wind, blocking new projects and federal funding for the industry in his new administration. During a May campaign rally in New Jersey, the Republican promised to take action on this during his first day in office through an executive order.
He has accused offshore wind turbines of destroying “everything,” calling offshore wind “the most expensive energy there is.” Trump, who has rallied against offshore wind since before his first presidency, has also accused the clean energy turbines of killing whales due to vibrations and noise — something the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has denied.
Fellow critics of the industry have accused the Biden administration of engaging in favoritism toward offshore wind, calling it “counterproductive” due to its intermittent nature.
“No matter how strongly the wind blows, it’s only going to provide a certain amount of energy,” James Taylor, president of the Heartland Institute, told the Washington Examiner. “That’s far less than the concentrated energy in a piece of coal or in oil and natural gas … if wind power and solar power had more concentrated energy content, I’d be all for them. I don’t really care which energy winds out or which industry winds out. I just want to make sure that we have affordable and reliable energy.”
With less than a month remaining until Trump takes office, his anti-offshore wind rhetoric has already influenced the market. In November, the CEO of TotalEnergies said it planned to pause the construction of its offshore wind farm located off the coast of New York due to the president-elect’s remarks.
