The Interior Department has illegally ordered the pause of five wind power projects in the Atlantic, one of which was already providing enough cheap electricity to power 400,000 homes in Massachusetts, on the first day of winter and during a holiday season that has already seen large increases in electricity prices compared to previous years.
Offshore wind is among the cheapest, cleanest and safest forms of energy available to humanity. Offshore winds are more consistent than onshore ones, which makes them ideal for electricity production and a great complement to solar power.
Construction can be more difficult than onshore wind, but it doesn’t take up any land space, doesn’t pollute, and costs little once in place.
It also increases energy security, as it doesn’t rely on imports of nonrenewable resources, and isn’t affected by fluctuations in global oil markets.
We’ve seen several recent examples of dictators of oil nations, buoyed by the confidence that the world is addicted to their product, attacking sovereign nations and disrupting markets for energy that people rely on.
That reliance can led to lots of pain, even for countries that aren’t directly involved in the conflict. So getting away from reliance on gas, and heating homes and making power with a more secure resource, would be a boon for any nation.
The main downside of wind is that there are only limited places that it can be installed – namely, places along the coast with strong wind. The North and Central Atlantic are ideal in this way.
In addition, the area’s ailing ports have found new life due to these wind power projects. Some fishermen, looking for work as fish stocks shrink due to climate change, have found new purpose by using their boats to help with wind farm construction.
These new electricity resources are important as US electricity use spikes and is expected to continue to grow due to electrification of transport, homes, and the newly added power draw of AI.
AI is electricity hungry, and has been found to increase electricity prices due to the increased demand it puts on the grid, which has not been balanced with new supply. Basic economics suggests that if you increase demand without increasing supply, prices go up.
Thankfully, several projects have been in place developing offshore wind power on the Atlantic seaboard. One of those projects is Vineyard Wind, off of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, which is halfway complete and was already providing enough power for 400,000 homes.
These wind power projects have helped to lower electricity prices in the states where they’re active, according to government data. Getting more of them online, and faster, could help to revert the US’ current spike in electricity bills.
Trump hikes your energy prices once again
But today, the current squatter in the Interior Department, Doug Burgum, who has received over $600,000 in political bribes from oil & gas industry over his political career (the industry was his top source of bribes in his run as Governor of North Dakota), ordered a “pause” to five projects.
The shutdown includes Vineyard Wind which was already powering homes at the start of its cold winter, along with Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind in New York, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
The order comes exactly two weeks after a federal judge ruled a previous wind power pause illegal. That pause was found to be “arbitrary and capricious,” a legal term for when government actions are taken without proper consideration. That pause was opposed by 17 state attorneys general and many industry and environmental organizations, who prevailed and will surely file suit again over this pause soon.
But this is the first time a pause has affected a project already delivering power to the grid.
Despite the first pause being illegal and this one being similarly capricious, these actions have resulted in slower development for other projects, such as in Northern California, per a recent NPR article (which you should read). The rudderlessness of the US federal government has reduced investment, which had been growing, and instead that investment is shifting towards China and away from the US.
The Interior Department tried to claim that the pause has something to do with radar signals, but the Department of Defense was heavily consulted throughout the permitting process and signed off on each project, thus showing Burgum’s claims to be false.
Given his history of bribes from the oil industry and the increased prices that industry can charge when competing supply is cut, the actual reason for the freeze seems clear. (And we do know the oil industry opposes wind power – it has funded networks of fake grassroots organizations to try to cut competition from the superior energy source).
The pause is also sourced in the personal hatred of wind power of one Mr. Donald Trump, who is currently squatting in the White House despite being Constitutionally barred from holding any office in the US.
His hatred of wind energy was originally galvanized due to his failure to stop the installation a wind power plant off the coast of Scotland near a golf course he owns. His exceptional pettiness has led him to attack wind power elsewhere as a result, today working to deprive the US of a clean, cheap energy source.
Regardless of these shenanigans, wind power is expected to grow, though likely at a slower pace, thus meaning higher electricity prices for longer.
This isn’t the only type of energy that Mr. Trump is working to increase the price of. The squatters he appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, Lee Zeldin and Chris Wright, announced a plan that would raise your fuel costs by 76 cents per gallon, according to a report signed off on by Wright.
That plan received over half a million comments opposing it, but it is expected to be pushed through anyway next month anyway. Zeldin has received $269k in bribes from the oil industry over his political career, and Wright is a former oil CEO.
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