Trump set to slowly strangle offshore wind in the US 

Doing so is a major blow to the American offshore wind industry and will hurt hundreds of US companies and thousands of workers. At the same time, the President also issued an Executive Order to halt funds that would have been disbursed through the Inflation Reduction Act – legislation which helped pave the way for the development of offshore wind in the US. Combined, his actions will slowly strangle the industry and, when he is gone, investors will remain wary of a market so dependent on the outcome of an election.

Responding, the Oceantic Network says the decision is “more than baffling” and flies in the face of the new administration’s priorities on American-made energy. “Offshore wind is good for the economy,” says the Network. “It provides tens of billions to the federal government through leasing and annual payments from private developers. Stopping federal leasing and permitting will result in less energy, less income to pay our national deficit and less funds to support tax cuts. Not to mention, the more substantial contribution to revenue that comes once commercial operations have begun.” What is more, the President’s action threatens to strand US$25Bn already flowing into new ports, vessels and manufacturing centres, and curtail future investment.

The American Clean Power Association says, “No nation can achieve energy dominance without consistent policy that moves beyond the idea that energy systems have partisan character. Wind energy is an essential element of our ability to serve soaring electricity demand for manufacturing and data centres that are key to national security. It is also playing a growing role in our energy systems in red and blue states across the country.” It notes that wind energy supports more than 300,000 American jobs, in construction, manufacturing and shipbuilding and is helping to revitalise America’s supply chains. The Sierra Club describes President Trump as “the first president to celebrate killing American jobs.”

Potential investment decisions have already been iced. Prysmian Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and installers of subsea cables says it will end development of a US$300M cable manufacturing plant at Brayton Point. As Congressman Jake Auchincloss notes, the factory would have created hundreds of jobs producing the submarine cables. “Donald Trump has unravelled the promise of good jobs… generating so much uncertainty that companies pull back investment,” he says.

In the run-up to the election, the President touted a fossil fuel agenda and appealed to oil companies to fund his campaign. He even made a pitch to 20 fossil-fuel leaders for US$1Bn in return for promises of lucrative tax and regulatory favours. It is no surprise that, now he is in office, he has responded the way he did. Shares in some leading wind energy developers were hit by the move, but there may be benefits for the offshore wind industry elsewhere, which remains mainly concentrated in Europe and expanding in Asia. Already, global supply chain companies have suggested capacity that would have been allocated to projects in the US will be relocated elsewhere. In the long-term, the US will be the loser because the energy transition is unstoppable. Everyone except President Trump and the people who advise him understand electrification of the energy sector is essential. The US could have played a massive role in the transition, but thanks to President Trump, it is set to fall far behind, and the jobs will be created elsewhere.