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The Department of the Interior announced today that it is pausing—effective immediately—the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports. This pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.
“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.”
The following leases are paused:
As for the national security risks inherent to large-scale offshore wind projects, unclassified reports from the U.S. Government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called “clutter.” The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects.
The Department of Energy in a 2024 report stated that a radar’s threshold for false alarm detection can be increased to reduce some clutter, but an increased detection threshold could cause the radar to “miss actual targets.”
"Today’s action ensures that national security risks posed by offshore wind projects are appropriately addressed and that the United States government retains its ability to effectively defend the American people," per the Department of the Interior.
Attorney General William Tong was particularly upset that the work on Revolution Wind is being stopped.
“This appears to be a second, even more lawless and erratic stop work order, reviving the Trump Administration’s prior failed attempt to halt construction of Revolution Wind. We went to court over this before. There is a court order blocking their prior stop work order and this appears to be a new brazen attempt to circumvent that order. The project has been vetted and approved through every layer of federal and state regulatory process, including a careful review of the issues raised in this announcement. Every day this project is stalled is another day of lost work, another day of unaffordable energy costs, and other day burning fossil fuels when American-made clean energy is within reach. We are evaluating all legal options, and this will be stopped just like last time,” said Attorney General Tong.
Gov. Ned Lamont also called the move "erratic"...
“This is yet another erratic, anti-business move by the Trump administration that will drive up the price of electricity in Connecticut and throughout the region. At a time when my administration is working tirelessly to ensure Connecticut has a diverse energy supply and lower utility costs for families and businesses, the White House continues to be an obstacle," said Lamont. "This project is nearing completion and providing good-paying clean energy jobs. Businesses and residents deserve economic predictability, yet with the administration’s constant starts and stops they’re left with the opposite, so the one thing the people of Connecticut can count on is that we will stand up to the Trump administration and ensure this project continues to move forward.”
Located fifteen nautical miles off the coast of Rhode Island, Revolution Wind is a wind energy facility expected to deliver enough electricity to the New England grid to power 350,000 homes, or 2.5 percent of the region’s electricity supply beginning in 2026. Revolution Wind is projected to save Connecticut and Rhode Island ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years. The Revolution Wind project supports over 2,500 jobs nationwide in the construction, operations, shipbuilding and manufacturing sectors, including over 1,000 union construction jobs. The project has been vetted and approved through every layer of the federal and state regulatory process and is supported by binding contracts and legal mandates. Construction is nearly complete.
The Trump Administration first issued a stop work order on August 22. Connecticut and Rhode Island sued. Developer Ørsted sued separately. The federal district court in the Ørsted challenge issued an injunction, allowing work on Revolution Wind to proceed.
But now it's paused again.
Good news for the wildlife.
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