The Trump administration has suspended the leases on five offshore wind projects, citing alleged national security concerns.
According to combined media reports, the projects are Vineyard Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind. The projects 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.
Two operational wind farms in U.S. coastal waters — one located off Rhode Island that has been complete since 2016 and one built off New York that has been fully operational since 2023 – were allowed to continue functioning.
In a statement, the Department of the Interior insisted that “the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called ‘clutter.’ The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects. The Department of Energy in a 2024 report stated that a radar’s threshold for false alarm detection can be increased to reduce some clutter, but an increased detection threshold could cause the radar to ‘miss actual targets.’”
The statement added the suspension of the leases “ensures that national security risks posed by offshore wind projects are appropriately addressed and that the United States government retains its ability to effectively defend the American people.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum followed up on the announcement via statements on X that called the projects “expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms,” adding that “ONE natural gas pipeline supplies as much energy as these 5 projects COMBINED. @POTUS is bringing common sense back to energy policy & putting security FIRST!”
Today’s action follows a Jan. 20 memorandum by the administration that temporarily withdrew all areas of the US Outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing while ordering a review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices. The five projects that saw their leases suspended were all approved during the Biden administration.
President Trump has been a longtime critic of offshore wind, calling the turbines ugly and dangerous to wildlife. Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents both offshore oil drilling firms and offshore wind developers, lamented the administration’s action by stating, “America’s offshore energy industry has put thousands of Americans to work in high-paying jobs in the construction of offshore projects that will effectively meet burgeoning demand for power throughout the northeast.”
