(NewsNation) — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Friday it will be terminating or withdrawing $679 million in funding for offshore wind projects.
The money was being used for 12 projects, which the department referred to as “doomed.” In a press release, the department stated that this decision would ensure federal dollars are allocated towards “restoring America’s maritime dominance and preventing waste.”
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“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”
According to the department, the Trump administration wants it to focus on rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capacity, utilizing more reliable and traditional forms of energy, as well as possibly addressing critical port upgrades or other core infrastructure needs.
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Earlier this month, the Trump administration halted construction on an offshore wind project near Rhode Island called Revolution Wind, which The Associated Press reports was nearly completed. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a letter on August 22, stating it halted the project because it needed to “address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the United States.”
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee responded to the project halt on social media, stating that he and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont would pursue “every avenue to reverse the decision.”
“This action puts hundreds of union jobs at risk by halting a project that is 80% complete – just steps away from powering more than 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut,” McKee wrote. “At a time when we should be moving forward with solutions for energy, jobs, and affordability, this administration is choosing delay and disruption.
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Just days before the halt on Revolution Wind was announced, President Trump claimed, “any state that has built and relied on windmills and solar for power are seeing record-breaking increases in electricity and energy costs. The scam of the century.”
According to a survey released by the Pew Research Center in June, American support for renewable energy has declined. The survey found that “68% of Americans favor more wind power, compared with 83% in 2020 at the end of the first Trump administration.” As for wind, “77% of Americans favor more solar power, down from nine-in-ten in 2020.”
