Trump Works To Sabotage Offshore Wind Alliances

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Wouldn’t you think that a $4 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that is nearly complete would be safe from Trump administration wrath? With all necessary permits in place, wouldn’t its future seem secure? Nope. Citing “concerns that have arisen” during a review, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) has informedRevolution Wind, LLC that it cannot resume any activities until so notified. The announcement threatens already tenuous wind alliances across commercial fishers, the offshore wind industry, environmentalists, clean power advocates, and investors.

Revolution Wind, a subsidiary of Ørsted, is complying with the order and is “taking appropriate steps to stop offshore activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment.”

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy.

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In the August 22 Ørsted press release, the company described how Revolution Wind has 20-year power purchase agreements to deliver 400 MW of electricity to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut, “enough to power over 350,000 homes across both states to meet their growing energy demand.” The adjacent South Fork Wind, which uses the same turbine technology, “delivered reliable energy to New York at a capacity factor of 53% for the first half of 2025, on par with the state’s baseload power sources.”

The project is located about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast and 32 miles southeast off the shores of Connecticut.

Only a handful of offshore wind projects in the United States are still under construction, including Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind, NY; Vineyard Wind near Martha’s Vineyard, MA; and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said the state was “evaluating all legal options to protect Connecticut’s interests.” Arguing that the Trump administration “wants to mothball billions of dollars in investment and cancel one of the best new sources of American-made, renewable energy,” Tong called out the President and his advisors for the harm they will cause to everyday consumers. “Trump and his enablers will own the resulting cost increases for ratepayers.”

Tong has joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful attempt to freeze the development of wind energy.

“With the significant investments made in this project already and its obvious benefit to our economy and climate,” RI Attorney General Peter F. Neronha added, “the Trump Administration’s attempt to halt it can only be characterized as bizarre.”

Globally the offshore wind industry is ramping up full speed ahead. On the other end of the energy spectrum, though, the Trump administration continues to do all it can to enhance the oil, gas, and coal industries. They are trying to halt policies in place that curb carbon emissions. They have reneged on federal grants, fired workers en masse, and attacked longstanding environmental regulations. They have frozen funds appropriated by Congress for clean energy projects and taken particular aim at wind energy, the country’s largest source of renewable power. They are promoting the dirtiest and most expensive fossil fuels in place of large offshore wind farms.

Yet the untold story is about higher consumer utility rates, which are largely a result of higher demand. That demand, in turn, are being driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, oil and gas drilling, space heating, and electrified forms of transportation, explains Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, a DC-based energy consultancy firm. All of these technologies require extraordinary amounts of power. Offshore wind can reduce the need for peaker plants. In wholesale electricity markets, peak power costs set the price for the whole market.

DOI deputy press secretary Aubrie Spady told the Daily Caller (co-founded by Tucker Carlson) that people in the US don’t want or need renewable energy.

“Americans deserve energy that is affordable, reliable, and built to last — not experimental and expensive wind projects that are proven failures. In line with President Donald Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda, Interior is putting an immediate stop to these costly failures to deliver a stronger energy future and lower costs for American families. Like President Trump said, ‘the days of stupidity are over in the USA!’”

Ahem. As is their norm, lies are more important for the Trump administration than data or peer-reviewed research.

How the Anti-Wind Narrative Evolved

In 2025, many businesses face an insidious threat: the danger that the Trump administration will tell their company’s story faster, louder, or more convincingly than they do. And what’s become clear is the truth doesn’t matter. Executive orders now introduce policy uncertainty. Funding freezes lead to project delays. Investors retreat — as Marianne O’Connor outlines in PR News, “not due to technological failings but because of politically driven narrative shifts.”

This abrupt reversal rocked markets and cast doubt on the viability of wind power overall, illustrating how quickly external narratives can destabilize entire sectors. Offshore wind developers never fully grounded their story in rural revitalization, energy independence. or patriotism, O’Connor argues, and these are themes that might have defused political hostility. Another gap seems a deficit of relatable spokespeople, such as utility customers, turbine technicians, coastal business owners, or veterans retrained for green jobs — “who could retake the narrative and humanize the industry.”

Instead of hyperbole, the nuances of offshore wind need to be explored. Despite the recent increase in offshore wind deployments, decision-making bodies have been making slow progress in measuring cumulative impacts. Experts describe how:

• large offshore wind farms are planned for extreme climate conditions and designed to reduce installation time;
• large-scale projects have the need to improve the supply chain towards the establishment of coastal logistic centers;
• a Marine Net Gain approach is based on the value of the marine environment to people via ecosystem services and natural capital.

Several offshore wind advocacy groups have spoken out about the Trump halt to the Revolution Wind project.

One is Climate Action RI, which posted a message on social media criticizing the Trump administration’s action. “Revolution Wind is essential not only for our work to mitigate the climate crisis, but Rhode Island’s energy and economic future,” wrote Christian Roselund, clean energy policy analyst and “Yes to Wind” team leader.

Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network, stated, “This dramatic action further erodes investor confidence in the US market across all industries and undermines progress on shared national priorities—shipyard revitalization, steel and port investments, and energy dominance.”