The governors of four northeast states impacted by the Trump administration’s suspension of the leases on five offshore wind projects are demanding that they either receive a briefing on the alleged national security threats cited for the suspensions or the immediate lifting of the stop work orders on the projects.
The projects – Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind – are based off the coasts of New England, New York, and Virginia, and together they are designed to power up to approximately 2.5 million homes.
Govs. Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Kathy Hochul of New York, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, and Dan McKee of Rhode Island sent a letter to US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum questioning why the projects were declared national security threats after undergoing extensive federal reviews that affirmed they posed no threats whatsoever. They also complained the states received no advance warning from the Trump administration for this action.
“With this irrational and erratic action, you are not solving a national security crisis; you are creating both a national security and economic disaster,” the governors wrote to Burgum. “By obstructing domestic power generation, you are inviting grid failure, surrendering the industries of the future, and threatening the economy and national security.”
The letter continued, “The United States is currently in a race for the industries of the future, including onshoring advanced manufacturing, improving the defense industrial base, and maintaining US technology and energy dominance. All consume massive amounts of power. You cannot run a 21st-century economy on a 20th-century grid. By blocking gigawatts of domestic clean energy, you are effectively throttling the U.S. economy and handing a strategic advantage to foreign rivals who are building power generation as fast as they can.”
The governors also warned the suspension order contradicted the Trump administration’s dual missions for achieving energy independence and creating jobs.
“By blocking gigawatts of domestic power generation and killing thousands of jobs, you are forcing reliance on foreign energy markets and volatile supply chains,” the governors declared. “You cannot claim to be building an energy independent nation while actively dismantling its capacity to generate power.”
