Installation of wind turbines. (Revolution wind image)

George Harvey

The Trump administration has been antagonistic to wind-power throughout its existence. It has moved to prevent any wind turbines from being erected on federal land. That is especially true of offshore wind-power, most of which is put onto areas controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.

At the start of the administration, it appeared that offshore wind-power development that was already under way would be allowed to continue. That turned out not to be true.

Revolution Wind is an offshore wind development off the coast of Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was fully permitted and installation was 80% complete, when the Trump Administration issued a stop-work order, citing vague national security concerns for doing so. That order came in August 22. One thing that was mentioned was that wind turbines would interfere with radar operations. Such concerns are usually raised during permitting, not afterward, and they had already been addressed.

Ørsted, the Danish company that is the lead developer, took the US Government to court over the order. It had already put over $5 billion into the project when it was told to stop work, according to court filings reported by CBS News (tinyurl.com/GETRevolution). The stoppage would cost it millions each week it could not work, it said. It was joined in suing the government by its partner on the project, Skyborn Renewables. The states of Rhode Island and Connecticut also sued.

The claims made in the lawsuits were that the Trump administration was acting illegally, without basis, and arbitrarily. The lawsuits sought an injunction to allow work on Revolution Wind to continue. They asked for quick action because there were costs to the developers, the states, and the employees who were out of work due to the stoppage.

On September 22, a month after the original stop-work order was issued, a federal judge ordered an injunction allowing Revolution Wind to continue installation work. The judge, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, called the stop-work order “the height of arbitrary and capricious,” and said that the evidence of the ‘national security concerns’ the administration cited for its order was insufficient.

We can only speculate about why the government of the United States would issue a stop-work order under the circumstances. The wind farm had 45 turbines already completed, with 20 more to finish. It created about 1,200 jobs for people in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The project, when it is operating, will supply enough electricity for about 350,000 households. The evident purpose of the Trump administration was to end all these things.

There is more damage that would be done by terminating the project, however. Ørsted was not accused of acting in bad faith, but the government has been. The ramifications of its actions are not just local but international. It leads us to ask why any foreign company or country would want to do business in the United States, if the national government would act so capriciously.

This question is of special concern. We cannot be taken seriously as a trading partner, if we continue to operate without regard for law or honor. Unfortunately for this country, we are no longer secure in our position as the world’s biggest economy, and there is doubt we can be held to our commitments. And acting without honor will only drive others to do business elsewhere.