Trump administration moves to revoke permit for Massachusetts offshore wind project

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON AP The Trump administration has moved to block a Massachusetts offshore wind farm its latest effort to hobble an industry and apparatus that President Donald Trump has attacked as ugly and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas The Bureau of Ocean Potency Management or BOEM filed a motion in federal court Thursday seeking to take back its approval of the SouthCoast Wind project s construction and operations plan The plan is the last major federal permit the project requirements before it can start putting turbines in the water SouthCoast Wind to be built in federal waters about miles south of Nantucket is expected to construct as various as turbines to power about homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island The Interior Department action is the latest by the Trump administration in what critics call an all-out assault on the wind potency industry Trump s administration has stopped construction on major offshore wind farms revoked wind power permits and paused permitting canceled plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind enhancement and stopped million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects The moves are a complete reversal from the Biden administration which approved construction of large offshore wind projects to generate enough clean ability to power more than million homes The projects now face uncertain futures under Trump Last week the Interior Department required a federal judge in Baltimore to cancel a previous approval by BOEM to build an offshore wind project in Maryland The ocean agency has concluded that its prior weighing of the project s impacts was deficient and intends to reconsider that analysis to make a new decision the department explained Developer U S Wind has not yet begun construction but plans for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project call for up to turbines to power more than homes BOEM had approved SouthCoast s operations plan on Jan three days before Trump s second term began Based on its review to date BOEM has determined that the COP approval may not have fully complied with the law and may have failed to account for all the impacts that the SouthCoast Wind Project may cause Interior stated in its legal filing The agency inquired a federal judge to allow reconsideration of the project Related Articles Trump says US has carried out another fatal strike targeting alleged drug-smuggling boat Man accused of trying to kill Trump says prosecutors haven t proven assassination attempt Missouri judge strikes down ballot summary for anti-abortion measure backed by Republican lawmakers Trump DOJ argues Michigan effort to shut down underwater pipeline interferes with US foreign approach Judge blocks USDA from collecting input about SNAP applicants in states In a message developer Ocean Winds declared the company intends to vigorously defend our permits in federal court Stable permitting for American infrastructure projects should be of top concern for anyone who wants to see continued funding in the United States the declaration explained Jason Walsh executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance a coalition of labor unions and environmental groups stated Trump is threatening good jobs while he pursues his senseless vendetta against offshore wind Pulling strength project permits and canceling lease sales isn t new Biden revoked the permit to build the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office halting construction He canceled scheduled oil and gas lease sales But Trump s efforts to dismantle the offshore wind industry are much more extensive than the way Biden targeted fossil fuels declared Kristoffer Svendsen assistant dean for power law at the George Washington University Law School He thinks offshore wind developers will now see the U S as too risky They have plenty of options They can invest in Europe and Asia There are good markets to invest in offshore wind It s just the U S is not a good realm to invest in he reported The Trump administration has stopped construction on two major offshore wind farms so far One of them the Empire Wind project for New York was allowed to resume construction The Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut is paused and both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts The Danish capacity company Orsted is building Revolution Wind The Danish regime owns a majority stake in the company Besides SouthCoast the Trump administration has noted it is reconsidering approvals for another wind farm off the Massachusetts coast New England Wind It previously revoked a permit for the Atlantic Shores project in New Jersey The Associated Press atmosphere and environmental coverage receives financial assistance from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at ap org