SOURCE:
https://libn.com/2025/04/17/trump-administration-stops-wind-project-near-coast-of-long-island/
By Adina Genn - April 17, 2025
A major wind farm project slated to begin off the coast of Long Island that is said to power 500,000 homes was halted after an order from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Wednesday to halt construction on Empire Wind, a fully-permitted project. He called for further review, saying 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.
In a public statement on Wednesday afternoon, Equinor said the company “will safely halt the offshore construction in waters of the outer continental shelf for the Empire Wind project.”
The company also said it “is engaging with relevant authorities to clarify this matter and is considering its legal remedies, including appealing the order.”
Supporters of offshore wind say Long Island, because of its natural resources, is poised to be a leading source of wind energy. Others have questioned its impact on the commercial fishing industry and environment.
On Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that the federal government should support rather than undermine efforts to “make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant.”
She said that “Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.”
She pointed out that the “project has already put shovels in the ground before the president’s executive orders—it’s exactly the type of bipartisan energy solution we should be working on.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman favored the halting of the project. He took to Facebook on Thursday, calling for help in preventing “wind turbines off our shoreline. Windmills will destroy aquatic life, birds and hurt the local fishing industry,” he said.
Advocates for offshore wind say that halting the project puts the region at risk.
This includes the New York League of Conservation Voters, Alliance for Clean Energy New York and Citizens Campaign for the Environment.
In a joint statement, they said that “the Trump administration is jeopardizing thousands of union jobs, dealing a blow to clean energy and siding with fossil fuel interests over the health and safety of New Yorkers.”
The three organizations said that by “halting construction for Empire Wind I, President Trump is threatening Long Island’s energy independence and reliability, putting laborers out of work, undermining our efforts to combat coastal erosion that puts entire communities at risk, and causing dirty air and environmental degradation.”
The project, they said would “reduce reliance on foreign imports. Halting a fully permitted, shovel-ready project of this scale is unconscionable, especially at a time when we urgently need more clean, reliable energy to drive economic development and meet growing demand. The Administration is breaking the law while prioritizing the interests of their fossil fuel donors at the expense of working families – a reckless, dangerous move that turns back the clock on progress.”
The Biden administration sought to ramp up offshore wind as a climate change solution, setting national goals to deploy offshore wind energy, holding lease sales and approving nearly a dozen commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm opened a year ago, a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles east of Montauk Point.
Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies his first day in office with a spate of executive orders aimed at boosting oil, gas and coal.
Last week, when Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, visited Long Island, he said that the “president has made it crystal clear to his cabinet and to the public that he is not approving new wind permits right now.”
The administration is reviewing all existing and pending offshore wind permits.
This story has been updated. The Associated Press contributed to this story.