January 22, 2025 — A national moratorium on offshore wind leasing and permitting may have only limited effects in Massachusetts and other New England states, according to several wind industry observers.
Their comments came after Trump signed an executive order halting federal approvals for wind energy projects on Monday, his first official day in office.
“We’re obviously not happy to see the Trump administration issuing an order on day one that targets offshore wind,” said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at the Conservation Law Foundation. “But the practical import of this executive order on wind energy is not very significant — at least as relates to New England.”
Trump’s order directs the federal government to stop leasing new areas of the outer continental shelf for electricity production, and it effectively hits the pause button on all projects still in the development pipeline. But it stops short of immediately bringing to a standstill the dozen or so projects that are fully permitted in waters up and down the East Coast.