US Interior Secretary: no future for offshore wind in America

If there was any doubt about the Trump Administration’s position on offshore wind in America, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made it very clear during a recent press conference at a trade fair for the natural gas and LNG industry.

“There is not a future for offshore wind because it’s too expensive and not reliable enough,” Secretary Burgum said 10 September at Gastech 2025 in Milan. The Secretary said this was made clear when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed in July. “We’re ending the era of the mass subsidies of offshore wind. Many of those projects weren’t really about electricity. They were about tax subsidies. 60%-70% of the project value was often in the tax subsidies, which didn’t even go to the power companies. They were traded off to other hedge funds or other companies that would move those taxes to profitable industries,” explained the secretary.

Without subsidies, Mr Burgum said, “It’s likely that there will not be future offshore wind built in America.”

The Trump Administration has tried to halt or slow the development of offshore wind projects that are either under construction or have been previously fully permitted. Mr Burgum said this was because these offshore wind projects “were moved through very fast” during the Biden Administration.

Mr Burgum was joined at the event by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who both emphasised the need to reduce regulatory burdens to lower the cost of developing American energy, notably oil and gas, to make energy more affordable. Additionally, cheaper energy is required to support energy-thirsty data centres to ensure leadership in AI.

Secretary Wright said the Trump Administration was looking to lower the cost for oil and gas companies to produce oil, and “continue to do things that are going to lower their break-even cost. Look, it’s a dynamic industry that’s always innovating, and of course, prices are cyclical. But I’m very bullish on the future for the American oil industry, and American natural gas industry” he said.