Off Shore Wind Blown Away by Sec Burgum’s Latest Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Order

WOWSAHS

Back in April, wind foes hailed the Trump administration when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called a halt to the construction of the massive Empire Wind offshore project in New York. Their joy was tempered shortly thereafter by much anger and confusion when, in light of a deal done with New York State’s Kathy Hochul, Empire Wind was allowed to resume in exchange for allowing a natural gas pipeline to at long last transit the state.

Trump allows New York offshore wind project after apparent gas pipeline compromise with state

Norwegian energy company Equinor will resume construction on its offshore wind farm in New York, after the Trump administration lifted its order to halt work on the project.

Empire Wind 1 will be the first offshore wind project to deliver electricity directly to New York City. The Interior Department under the Biden administration approved the project last year after Equinor signed a lease issued by the department in 2017.

But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered construction on Empire Wind to stop on April 16, alleging the Biden administration rushed the project’s approval “without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects.”

The stop-work order had raised fears among investors that the White House might target other wind projects that had already been permitted and approved.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday evening that Burgum and President Donald Trump agreed to lift the stop-work order and allow the project to move forward “after countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials.” Empire Wind supports 1,500 union jobs, Hochul said.

In the months since, Trump has made no secret of his disgust with the ugly turbines, most recently railing about them ruining the view from his Scottish golf course, while anti-wind groups wonder what’s going to happen next. 

Donald Trump: “Not a penny for windmills. Energy should be profitable. They’re made in 🇨🇳, toxic, and can’t be recycled.”

🇨🇦:FULL WINDMILL AHEAD

We’re bankrupting the country for turbines we can’t bury, can’t fix, don’t even work when it’s cold

Geniuspic.twitter.com/cu19hiREyf

— Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) July 28, 2025

Do anti-wind advocates truly have an ally in the White House or not?

They have finally been joined by some environmental groups in protesting the offshore farm – suddenly they seem interested in slaughtered whales over wind power. But the clear-eyed cynics among the fierce wind critics attribute the mysterious concern more to those non-profits losing their government funding than a change of heart. 

It’s a PR campaign. Enviro groups have supported on & offshore wind🌍wide, lucratively & silently. They’ve observed the same dead whales & birds in wind turbine wakes that we have.
Their #USAID $ window is closed.
They’re pandering.
We are the enviros’ plan B for cash money.

— Barbara Durkin (@Barbarajdurkin) July 31, 2025

And they are most probably correct.

As for Equinor, the Norwegian, mostly state-owned developer who put the pressure on the Trump administration to back off the already permitted and in-progress project, they have not had an easy go of it, either, but say they are determined to see the farm finished.

…Equinor reported a $955 million impairment charge in the second quarter, citing regulatory and cost-related challenges tied to its U.S. offshore wind portfolio—most notably the Empire Wind 1 project off the coast of New York. Equinor is already advancing wind projects under development in the NYC area, operated by Capitol Airspace Group (see the map by Rextag).  

…The offshore wind segment, however, continues to face cost pressures. Large infrastructure projects like Empire Wind require significant quantities of steel and imported components, now subject to higher tariffs, contributing to the rising cost environment. Nevertheless, Equinor emphasized that delivery on Empire Wind 1 is ongoing, despite earlier construction pauses. 

It will all depend on the infrastructure costs, and, if it works out anything like what the companies in New Jersey tried, what they can squeeze as far as contract rate increases out of the public utility commission in New York State. 

What Burgum did yesterday was pull the rug out from under damn near every wind project that hasn’t done a piling sounding.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) rescinded all the wind energy leasing areas. Just like POOF! GONE!

OFF THE MAP

You can’t lease it if it ain’t there.

BOEM cancels all offshore Wind Energy Area designations

A massive blow against offshore wind came July 30 as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management abruptly rescinded all Wind Energy Areas it has designated on the Outer Continental Shelf, cancelling years of planning dating back to 2014.

“By rescinding WEAs, BOEM is ending the federal practice of designating large areas of the OCS for speculative wind development, and is de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development across the Gulf of America, Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic,” according to a BOEM statement.

The BOEM cancellation followed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s order Tuesday to “end preferential treatment for unreliable energy sources like wind.”   

“At the end of the last administration, over 3.5 million acres offshore were designated as Wind Energy Areas, which are pre-approved zones where the federal government could auction leases for offshore wind development,” according to a statement from Burgum’s office Tuesday. “By terminating these Wind Energy Areas, we are safeguarding our coastal environments and local economies from unchecked development, while ensuring our power grids are not underpinned by unreliable, subsidized energy sources.”

 The Interior statement further promised to engage with stakeholders who have opposed wind projects.

HOLY SMOKING TURBINE

That’s gonna leave a mark.

…The offshore wind industry had projected $65 billion in investments by 2030, supporting 56,000 jobs, with significant benefits for U.S. shipbuilding and maritime operations. The current administration’s actions mark a significant departure from the previous Biden-Harris administration’s goals of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind by 2035.

While the order doesn’t affect existing lease rights, it mandates a comprehensive review of current wind energy leases for potential termination or amendment and extends to both onshore and offshore wind development pending environmental and economic review.

Climate cultist grifters immediately took to whatever airwaves and media they could find to register their ‘waahs!’

…“The Department of Interior’s latest directives continue a false narrative on an established American industry that will prevent an important source of baseload power generation from reaching the grid when ratepayers are already feeling the effects of rising electricity prices,” said Stephanie Francoeur, Oceantic’;s [Network] senior vice president of communications and external affairs. 

“This will result in even higher energy costs, increased blackouts, job loss, and billions of dollars in stranded investments, further delaying shovel-ready projects supported by a domestic heavy manufacturing supply chain renaissance that spans 40 states,” said Francoeur.

 But folks are well aware that the increased costs and blackouts are already here because of the unreliable wind and solar that the cultists and Green grifters have foisted on consumers across the country.

I don’t believe there’s any sympathy coming for them, but there is quite a bit of cheering already for this decisive move.

For instance, in Oregon (of all places), fierce anti-wind efforts between tribes, locals, and fishermen had nearly killed two separate efforts to put floating turbines offshore. They are hailing the Trump decision as the icing on the cake. Developers were tired of the expensive, unrelenting fight and had stopped bidding on the leases.

…That includes nearly 195,000 acres off the Southern Oregon coast.

The agency said the decision follows a Trump administration executive order as well as a memorandum signed on Jan. 20, both aimed at ending the production of offshore wind.

While on the campaign trail, Trump promised to end wind-energy projects “on day one” of his presidency and has since fulfilled that promise, halting several East Coast projects from moving ahead.

For Oregon, the near-term potential to generate wind energy off the Southern Oregon coast was over before Trump came into office despite a yearslong effort to designate two locations off the coast of Coos Bay and Brookings.

Oregon Coast floating offshore wind proposals faced many hurdles, including opposition from residents, fisherman and tribes. That ultimately prevented the area from attracting enough developers to make a bid.

In September, months after BOEM finalized which areas could host offshore wind generation, the agency canceled a planned auction of development rights, citing a lack of interest. At the time, the agency said only one of five bidders was still interested in floating offshore wind development.

It’s unclear if favorable winds will ever generate enough interest for the renewable technology to take off on the coast of Oregon.

That’s the way to do it.

And it’s pretty dang terrific when it all comes together.

Wind guys should take their green crap and go home: Trump ends the federal practice of designating large areas of the OCS for speculative wind development.https://t.co/0dcjYqGjDD pic.twitter.com/8xlZiWxGEn

— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) July 30, 2025

TAKE YOUR UGLY, EXPENSIVE, UNRELIABLE GREEN CRAP AND GO HOME

I like it.

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