Saving Seafood

Trump administration issues order to stop construction on New York offshore wind project

April 17, 2025 — The Trump administration issued an order Wednesday to stop construction on a major offshore wind project to power more than 500,000 New York homes, the latest in a series of moves targeting the industry.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He said it needs further review because it appears the Biden administration rushed the approval.

The Norwegian company Equinor is building Empire Wind to start providing power in 2026. Equinor finalized the federal lease for Empire Wind in March 2017, early in President Donald Trump’s first term. BOEM approved the construction and operations plan in February 2024 and construction began that year.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Trump Admin Halts New York Offshore Wind Project, Orders Review of All Existing Biden-Era Wind Permits

April 16, 2025 — The Trump administration is halting construction of a massive offshore wind project being built in federal waters off the coast of New York and ordering a sprawling review of existing offshore wind permits, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday to order foreign energy developer Equinor to cease all construction activities on its Empire Wind project, according to a memorandum obtained by the Free Beacon. Burgum said the Biden administration green-lit permits for the project and ultimately approved it without conducting proper analysis.

“Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project,” Burgum wrote. He said the halt on Empire Wind will be in effect indefinitely until further review is completed to “address these serious deficiencies.”

Burgum additionally ordered Interior Department staff to continue a review of federal wind permitting practices related to both existing and pending permits and approvals.

Read the full article at The Washington Free Beacon  

RHODE ISLAND: Can a Local RI Fishing Panel Make a Difference in Offshore Wind Projects? We’re About to Find Out

April 15, 2025 — When the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) put out a public call for volunteers to revive a state fishing advisory panel, a former panel member warned Jim Riggs against joining.

Riggs, a 75-year-old recreational fisherman and retired electrician who lives in Westerly, applied anyway.

“I feel that in order to have your voice heard when it comes to fisheries management, you’re either on the table or on the plate,” Riggs said in an interview. “I prefer to be at the table.”

His seat at the table is now secured; he is one of nine new members the CRMC named to its Fishermen’s Advisory Board (FAB) after a single, unanimous vote on April 8. The advisory panel has been inactive since all of its former members resigned together in August 2023 to protest what they viewed as the CRMC’s kowtowing to offshore wind project developers at the expense of local fishermen.

Will the same frustrations bubble up? The first test comes this week, as the new panel begins negotiations with SouthCoast Wind, which has applied for a permit to run transmission lines from its wind turbines up the Sakonnet River and out Mount Hope Bay.

Rich Hittinger, a former FAB member who led the mass resignation effort two years ago, isn’t optimistic.

“We were asked to review a lot of applications and give input that took a lot of time and effort, but then the council really did not care what our input was,” said Hittinger, who is first vice chair of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association.

He had discouraged Riggs from joining the panel.

Read the full article at the Rhode Island Current

Government watchdog study finds some problems – and much uncertainty – in offshore wind industry

April 14, 2025 — A study on offshore wind development by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) – one that’s been nearly two years in the making – was at last released today, and it identifies a number of potential problems with the industry but few concrete answers.

The 68-page report acknowledges that building massive wind turbines off America’s coastline, including along the Jersey Shore, could have a variety of impacts on commercial fishing, marine ecosystems, defense radar systems, and local communities. But it also stresses how much is still uncertain about what’s still a relatively new industry.

“Development and operation of offshore wind energy facilities could affect marine life and ecosystems, including through acoustic disturbance and changes to marine habitats,” the GAO report declares in its introduction. “Wind development could bring jobs and investment to communities. At the same time, it could disrupt commercial fishing to varying degrees. Turbines could also affect radar system performance, alter search and rescue methods, and alter historic and cultural landscapes.”

“Because technology and implementation are still developing, the extent of some impacts is unknown,” it later states. “In addition, uncertainty exists about long-term and cumulative effects, but research and monitoring activities are ongoing to better understand potential impacts.”

The report was first commissioned in 2023, at a time when offshore wind was commanding headlines in New Jersey. That year, a number of dead whales washing up along the Jersey Shore prompted calls from local and national Republican politicians to halt offshore wind development, though federal scientific agencies said at the time that the deaths did not appear to be connected to the construction of wind turbines (something that the GAO reiterated in its study today).

Read the full article at New Jersey Globe

Massive turbine power being built off NY coast despite Trump ban on offshore wind projects

April 11, 2025 — A massive wind power project off the coast of New York blew past President Trump’s executive order to block or pause all new wind energy leasing in federal waterways — which opponents claim will destroy aquatic life and the commercial fishing industry.

Norway-based Equinor, which already had all the necessary lease and permit approvals from the feds before Trump’s January 20 executive order went into effect, confirmed that it has started construction at the site — laying rock as the foundation for the giant 54 wind turbines — 15 miles off the coast of Long Beach.

Equinor will deliver the power by connecting to Con Edison’s electric grid via a cable link from the ocean floor to the substation at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park.

The “Empire Wind 1″ project — which will power 500,000 homes — has the strong backing from both Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, in part to help meet the goals of the ambitious state climate change law mandating 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 and the phasing out of fossil fuels by 2050.

Read the full article at the New York Post

Are whales endangered by offshore wind turbines? NJ group calls for pause on development.

April 11, 2025 — Two federal agencies are reviewing a petition from an environmental group to create a protected migration corridor in the Atlantic Ocean, including off New Jersey, for the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The outcome of the review could have major implications for Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration’s “green energy” efforts. The corridor and its buffer zone would run through areas where New Jersey officials have focused their offshore wind turbine development.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office declined comment on the petition.

Read the full article at the Cherry Hill Courier-Post

Feds Push for Partial Dismissal in Ocean City’s U.S. Wind Lawsuit

April 11, 2025 — The federal government has asked a U.S. District Court Judge to partially dismiss a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), citing a similar offshore wind lawsuit in Rhode Island.

Ocean City and numerous co-plaintiffs first filed their lawsuit against the federal government in October of 2024 over the approval of offshore wind company U.S. Wind’s plans for wind turbines off of Delmarva’s coast. The lawsuit claimed U.S. Wind’s plans and the government’s approval, issued under the Biden Administration, were not in compliance with numerous federal agency rules and regulations.

On January 17, 2025, the federal government filed a motion of partial dismissal in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, according to court records. Specifically, the government argued that two of Ocean City’s claims against them were null. First was the allegation that BOEM violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and the second that BOEM violated the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in its approval of U.S. Wind’s proposed project.

Granting approval for a third-party project (like U.S. Wind’s) that could hypothetically violate those acts in the future did not constitute actual or present violations by the government, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued.

Read the full article at WBOC

Danger at sea — NY’s offshore wind power will kill whales, ground ships and more

April 11, 2025 — New York’s offshore waters are on the brink of a man-made disaster, one that threatens marine life, coastal economies and even national security.

The Empire Wind offshore wind project this week began construction in the New York Bight, a critical marine ecosystem and one of the busiest maritime zones on the East Coast.

The damage may be irreversible — and New Yorkers will be footing the bill.

This week, Empire started dumping thousands of tons of rock into the ocean to prepare for constructing huge monopiles, the foundations upon which its giant wind turbines will sit.

The rocks — 3.2 billion pounds of them, in just this first phase of a planned two-part installation — will destroy habitat, burying vital sand shoals that serve as spawning and nursery grounds for fish species like fluke, squid and scallops.

Entire fisheries and fishing communities from Massachusetts to North Carolina will be harmed.

Next month, Empire will start pile-driving the massive 180-foot monopoles into the seafloor.

The tremendous underwater noise and vibration will harm all marine life, especially endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full article at the New York Post

MASSACHUSETTS: What’s new with wind projects off Massachusetts and beyond?

April 9, 2025 — By sight, the offshore wind industry seems to be moving forward on the East Coast. Gargantuan, bright white turbine towers stand tall against New Bedford’s busy waterfront, and poke above I-95 as cars whiz by over the Thames River in New London. But the future of the industry beyond these active projects is uncertain at best under a hostile Trump administration.

In late March, Massachusetts announced another delay of contracts between state utilities and two projects that together promise to power more than 1.5 million homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The state said uncertainty about federal policy was a factor.

The Trump administration, through executive order, effectively froze new permits for offshore wind in January. That has empowered opponents to mount even more legal challenges to projects — including some in March from Nantucket town officials and activists.

The federal government could pause still-pending projects for at least the next four years, eventually leaving New Bedford and New London’s purpose-built marine terminals empty once again. And in an extreme scenario, the administration could even try to stop the projects that are already under construction.

Yet Massachusetts is counting on offshore wind to meet its climate goals of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and achieving net-zero emissions (meaning the state offsets or removes as much carbon as it emits) by 2050.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

NEW YORK: New York’s wind farms on Long Island face uncertainty after President Trump halts lease sales, permits

April 8, 2025 — Smith Point’s Park Beach is where offshore wind energy will soon come ashore. Crews there are laying cables for New York’s second wind farm with 84 turbines 30 miles off Montauk.

“We have this untapped renewable resource, the wind… this is going to power millions of homes… with almost zero fossil fuel use,” Melissa Parrot, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island said. “The planet is at stake. We see the glaciers melting… you see the storms, you see the floods… and the number one way to curb climate change is to stop our CO2 output, which is fossil fuel use.”

Hope has turned to uncertainty. On his first day in office, President Trump halted ocean wind lease sales and permits, ordering a full review. His strategy prioritizes oil, gas and coal to lower prices, he said.

“We have more energy than anybody and we are going to be unleashing it,” Mr. Trump said.

On the other end of of Long Island and on the flip side of the debate, Christina Kramer of Protect Our Coast – LINY applauds Mr. Trump’s decision. She turned against offshore wind when a transmission line was proposed on her Long Beach block. Her group argues wind energy is unreliable, costly and environmentally harmful.

Read the full article at CBS News