Trump executive order pauses offshore wind leasing

Among the slew of executive orders signed by President Donald J. Trump yesterday was one announcing a “temporary withdrawal of all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing and a review of the Federal Government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind projects.”

As always with such things, the full text of the executive order requires careful study.

In response to this action, Liz Burdock, founder and CEO of the Oceantic Network issued the following statement:

“Today’s executive order pausing offshore wind leasing and permitting is a blow to the American offshore wind industry and hurts the hundreds of U.S. supply chain companies and thousands of workers already building more American energy. Under a National Energy Emergency, created by a rise in unprecedented energy demand, curtailing a power source capable of providing base load generation and creating new jobs across 40 states is baffling. Today’s actions threaten to strand $25 billion already flowing into new ports, vessels, and manufacturing centers, and curtail future investments across our country. We urge the administration to reverse this sweeping action and keep America working in offshore energy as part of its commitment to an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. We invite President Trump, his administration, Congressional leaders to visit our member’s factories, training centers, and projects to meet their dedicated workers and see the emerging American energy production in action.”

The action taken today will put thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in investments at risk.

The offshore wind industry employs thousands of people in American shipyards, factories, and ports where workers are building the infrastructure necessary to deliver reliable, American-made energy and meet our country’s growing power needs.

Halting progress on offshore wind energy development will remove jobs from our economy and strand businesses who have reorganized their operations to support the sector.

• A $25 billion wave of supply chain investments that has fueled significant growth in shipbuilding and steel production.
• The widespread impact of the industry’s 40-state supply chain.
• $1.8 billion in vessel orders across 21 U.S. shipyards.

In the face of a national energy emergency, we must support an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy to ensure our country’s power reliability, energy security, and maintain our position in the global economy.

• Offshore wind energy is critical to meeting our country’s growing energy needs.
• Energy demand over the next five years is expected to grow 5x faster than anticipated.
• Experts agree that no single American energy source can meet this demand in the short term.
• Driving the development of this clean energy sector is critically important to maintain global leadership against countries like China, which is outpacing American energy development on several front