A pair of U.S. senators have introduced legislation to enable more investment in offshore wind development, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to buyout existing lease holders.
Trump has made opposition to offshore wind power a key policy of his second term, issuing an executive order pausing offshore wind projects his first day back in office. That order was ultimately struck down by a federal judge, and a subsequent order by the U.S. Department of the Interior pausing development over vague national security concerns has not fared much better in court.
Instead of continuing his efforts to shut down offshore wind development via fiat pauses, Trump has moved on to buying out offshore wind developers. The administration announced the first such deals in April, compensating companies for the investments they made and the cost of their lease with an agreement that the money be reinvested in other U.S. energy projects. The administration has since announced several such deals, ending development of offshore wind projects on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
That policy has been praised by some commercial fishers, who claim offshore wind infrastructure makes it harder for them to access fishing grounds and disrupts the ecosystem.
“NEFSA is grateful that President Trump and his administration are taking strong steps to protect our oceans and push back on harmful offshore wind projects. Offshore wind threatens our economy, our fisheries, and our national defense and security,” New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association President Aaron Williams said previously. “For too long, these unreliable projects have put the livelihoods of hardworking American fishermen at risk.”
Conservation groups and some U.S. lawmakers have pushed back against Trump’s wind buyouts. Attorneys general from multiple states have joined up to challenge the buyouts in court, arguing that the Trump administration is acting unlawfully.
Now, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) and U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) have challenged the buyouts on another front, introducing legislation that would allow offshore wind developers who reject Trump’s buyouts to purchase up the leases abandoned by their competitors.
“The Trump administration is doing everything it can to kill California’s offshore wind future, handing energy companies billions of taxpayer dollars to walk away from projects that would have powered millions of homes,” Padilla said in a release. “This bill makes sure their destructive approach doesn’t waste what’s already been invested so we can get these leases back to work, create the jobs Trump killed, and keep energy bills low for working families instead of letting his war on renewables cost Californians even more.”
If passed, the bill would force the Department of the Interior to allow neighboring offshore wind leaseholders to buy abandoned leases at the original price without any other approval. Any unclaimed acreage would then be offered more widely under the same terms as the original lease, and the developers who abandoned the lease would be barred from acquiring it.
The legislation also has some teeth to it, banning the issuance of any offshore oil or gas leases and permits until the Department of the Interior has offered the abandoned acreage to new developers.
“Energy prices continue to rise nationwide, and this administration is taking products offline just when they could be deployed to strengthen the power grid, improve the quality of life, and curb the cost of living for American families,” King said. “Offshore wind has shown it can create good-paying jobs, bring billions of dollars in private investment to communities, and add another reliable source of American-made power to our energy mix. This legislation is a concerted effort to onshore energy jobs while bucking the administration’s partisan attempt to pick winners in the energy field. We should be taking advantage of new energy technologies that can lower costs for all Americans – not prioritizing the interest of certain political backers for personal gain.”
