The Trump administration on Monday ordered an immediate halt to leases for five major offshore wind projects already under construction along the East Coast, citing unspecified national security concerns raised by the Pentagon. The directive heightens the administration’s broader campaign to curb renewable energy development, even as courts have begun pushing back.
According to the administration, the suspension is intended to give the Interior Department time to consult with the Defense Department and other federal agencies to evaluate potential security risks and determine whether they can be mitigated. Officials did not explain what those risks are, nor did they set a timeline for when the pause might be lifted.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.”
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The decision affects the Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and two New York developments, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind. Together, the projects represent a significant share of the offshore wind capacity under construction in the United States.
The suspension comes just two weeks after a federal judge struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects nationwide. U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of Massachusetts ruled that Trump’s Jan. 20 directive to halt leasing and permitting for wind projects on federal lands and waters was unlawful, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and a violation of U.S. law. Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Despite that ruling, the administration has pressed ahead with new measures aimed at slowing offshore wind. Supporters of wind energy say invoking national security could complicate legal challenges, even though they argue the rationale is weak and unsupported by the record.
Interior Department officials pointed to long-standing, unclassified government findings that offshore wind turbines can interfere with radar systems. According to the department, the movement of large turbine blades and reflective towers can create radar “clutter,” potentially obscuring legitimate targets or producing false ones near wind facilities.
That argument attracted rebuttals from national security experts involved in earlier reviews of the projects. Kirk Lippold, a former commander of the USS Cole, said the offshore wind developments were approved only after years of scrutiny by state and federal agencies, including the Coast Guard, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Air Force.
“The record of decisions all show that the Department of Defense was consulted at every stage of the permitting process,” Lippold said in a report by the AP. He added that expanding offshore wind would strengthen national security by diversifying the country’s energy supply.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., reiterated that view, saying Revolution Wind underwent extensive federal review that included national security considerations. Burgum’s decision, Whitehouse said, “looks more like the kind of vindictive harassment we have come to expect from the Trump administration than anything legitimate.”
The administration’s posture reflects Trump’s long-standing hostility toward renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. The president has repeatedly criticized wind turbines as unsightly, costly and harmful to wildlife, while promoting fossil fuels as the backbone of U.S. electricity generation.
Clean energy advocates called the lease suspension unlawful and warned it threatens one of the country’s most affordable and reliable sources of power.
“For nearly a year, the Trump administration has recklessly obstructed the build-out of clean, affordable power for millions of Americans, just as the country’s need for electricity is surging,” said Ted Kelly of the Environmental Defense Fund.
“Now the administration is again illegally blocking clean, affordable energy,” Kelly said. “We should not be kneecapping America’s largest source of renewable power, especially when we need more cheap, homegrown electricity.”
Kelly also criticized the administration for backing aging coal plants while sidelining renewable projects. Supporting coal facilities that “barely work and pollute our air,” he said, makes the offshore wind pause particularly damaging.
State officials signaled that further legal action may be imminent. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong described the suspension as a “lawless and erratic stop-work order” that revives a previous, unsuccessful attempt to derail Revolution Wind.
“Every day this project is stalled is another day of lost work, another day of unaffordable energy costs and burning fossil fuels when American-made clean energy is within reach,” Tong said. “We are evaluating all legal options, and this will be stopped just like last time.”
Opponents of offshore wind, however, welcomed the administration’s decision. A New Jersey advocacy group that has fought wind development along the coast praised Trump for intervening.
“Today, the president and his administration put America first,” said Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey.
“Placing largely foreign-owned wind turbines along our coastlines was never acceptable,” Shaffer said, singling out Empire Wind as a concern because of its proximity to major airports such as Newark Liberty, LaGuardia and JFK. Critics also argue offshore wind threatens commercial and recreational fishing.
Several international companies are behind the halted projects, including Denmark-based Orsted, Norway’s Equinor and a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Orsted, which owns two of the affected developments, saw its shares fall more than 11 percent on Monday.
Dominion Energy, the Richmond-based utility building Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, said the project is critical to national security and to meeting surging electricity demand in Virginia, driven in part by the rapid expansion of data centers.
“Stopping CVOW for any length of time will threaten grid reliability … lead to energy inflation and threaten thousands of jobs,” the company said.
The Virginia project is nearly 70 percent complete. David Shepheard, an energy expert at global consulting firm Baringa, warned that even a temporary pause could have far-reaching consequences for customers and the grid.
East Coast residents are no strangers to storms that disrupt daily life and local economies, Shepheard said. “This is a new one for the area: a Washington-borne nor’easter where the political winds are going to stop the blades from spinning.”
