President-elect Donald Trump tasked a New Jersey congressman and with writing an executive order he could issue to halt wind energy projects.
Offshore wind is a major part of transitioning to an electric grid powered entirely by sources that don鈥檛 emit carbon dioxide when generating electricity. The power sector is responsible for nearly a third of the nation's planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. On the campaign trail, as soon as he returned to the White House. He wants to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, which cause climate change, in order for the U.S. to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity of any nation in the world, he says.
Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew said he spoke with Trump by phone about a month ago and urged him to act on his campaign promise.
鈥淚 said 鈥楳r. President, we need to move on this.鈥� He said, 鈥榊eah, we definitely do. I agree. I鈥檓 against them.鈥�" Van Drew said. "He said, 鈥榃rite an executive order, get it to my people.鈥欌��
Van Drew told The Associated Press Wednesday night that he quickly emailed a draft order to , Trump's pick to be interior secretary. Van Drew said the draft is written to halt offshore wind development from Rhode Island to Virginia for six months so the incoming interior secretary could review how leases and permits were issued. Van Drew said he believes the approvals did not fully take into account the impact on the fishing industry, tourism, whales or Americans鈥� utility bills, and it's problematic to rely on foreign renewable energy companies building the wind farms.
The Interior Department includes the agency responsible for offshore renewable energy development in federal waters, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Burgum appeared for a confirmation hearing.
Sen. , I-Maine, said at the hearing Burgum knows the benefits of wind power since he's from North Dakota, which gets more than . He asked Burgum to convince Trump wind power 鈥渋sn't all bad.鈥�
Burgum said the electric grid needs more resources that provide power continuously, as opposed to 鈥渋ntermittent鈥� sources such as solar and wind that fluctuate.
King then asked if Burgum would commit to continuing with offshore wind leases that have been issued.
鈥淚鈥檓 not familiar with every project that the interior has underway, but I鈥檒l certainly be taking a look at all of those,鈥� Burgum said. 鈥淚f makes it makes sense and they鈥檙e already in law, then they鈥檒l continue. I think the key is, and I think President Trump鈥檚 been very clear in his statements that he鈥檚 concerned about the significant amount of tax incentives that have gone toward some forms of energy.鈥�
Van Drew declined to show the AP the order, saying he doesn't expect Trump to use his draft verbatim, it's a template. He expects Trump to issue an offshore wind executive order within the first quarter of the year, possibly as early as his first day on the job. Van Drew said he views that as a first step toward an eventual moratorium on offshore wind development.
Trump says wind turbines are horrible and expensive. He repeats unfounded claims about . Trump's team responded to a request for comment Thursday by sharing the transcript from . He said he would seek to have a 鈥減olicy where no windmills are being built.鈥�
The Biden administration worked to propel the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry forward to address climate change as an existential threat. It set targets to deploy by 2030, generating enough electricity to power more than 10 million homes, and up to 15 gigawatts of electricity through , enough to power 5 million homes.
The nation鈥檚 first commercial-scale offshore wind farm , a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held first-ever and , and the first on the Atlantic coast. It approved the nation鈥檚 11th commercial-scale offshore wind energy project in December. Combined, the 11 projects total over 19 gigawatts of clean energy, enough to power more than 6 million homes.
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Jennifer Mcdermott, The Associated Press
