The White House has taken the extraordinary measure of instructing half a dozen agencies to develop plans to prevent the country’s offshore wind industry, while intensifying its attack throughout the government with a renewable energy source that President Donald Trump has criticized as ugly, face and inefficient.
Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff, and Stephen Miller, senior Advisor to White House, are leading the effort, according to two people informed on the subject.
Agencies that usually have little relationship with offshore wind energy were involved in the initiative, the two people said. In the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, employees are studying whether wind turbines issue electromagnetic fields that could damage human health. And the Defense Department is investigating whether projects can pose risks to national security.
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Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, said he was working with Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior; Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce; Chris Wright, Energy Secretary; and Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense, as part of a “departmental coalition team” to investigate the risks of offshore wind farms.
And Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transport, canceled or removed last week $ 679 million in federal financing for maritime terminals, port improvements and other facilities that were designed to support the offshore wind industry.
Anna Kelly, White House spokesman, said agencies are working to comply with Trump’s January executive order, which requested a review of wind and federal land and waters.
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When the Trump administration abruptly ordered the suspension of construction last month of Revolution Wind, a $ 4 billion wind farm on the Rhode Island coast that was 80% completed, mentioned national security concerns without detailing. Since then, the administration has been supported by the idea that offshore wind projects could threaten national security.
“In particular, there are concerns about radar over the submerged, and it doesn’t have to be a great Russian submarine, but underwater drones,” Burgum said at CNN last week, referring to the decision to interrupt the construction of the Revolution Wind.
Some experts said they were perplexed with these comments. By law, offshore wind projects are already undergoing an extensive process of revision by the Department of Defense.
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Over the weekend, Connecticut Democratic Governors, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island released a letter warning that revoking permissions to offshore wind farms could destabilize energy projects.
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