Others hurt as Trump targets offshore wind

Orders stop for new offshore wind vessels

- NICHOLA GROOM

Wind turbines near Block Island, Rhode Island, owned by Orsted, in 2017. The East Coast has long been considered a prime location for offshore wind projects because the water is relatively shallow. NYT

US shipbuilders and port operators are getting hit in the fallout from President Donald Trump's campaign to wipe out the offshore wind industry, suffering hundreds of millions of dollars in lost government support, vanishing vessel orders, and an uncertain future for the billions of dollars’ worth of investments.

The impact represents an unintended consequence of Trump's policy on the offshore wind industry, which has included stop-work orders and permit reviews for massive projects that were spurred by former President Joe Biden’s green investment policy.

Trump calls offshore wind an unsightly and inefficient technology that harms whales and birds. But he is also a huge supporter of US maritime industries that he views as crucial in the global competition for trade and military dominance of the high seas.

“He has a counterproductive argument,’ said Joe Orgeron, a Republican Louisiana state representative and former offshore vessel business owner, who pointed out the offshore wind industry was responsible formany ship orders in recent years. “That all came to a sudden halt, unfortunately.”

Reuters interviewed 13 port representatives, shipbuilders and trade groups who detailed the knock-on impacts of Trump's policy moves targeting offshore wind, the details of which are reported here for the first time.

The impacts include more than $679 million worth of cancelled Department of Transportation (DoT) financing for ports to support offshore wind, including a $34 million grant for a facility in Salem, Massachusetts, that was expected to generate $75 million in tax revenue over 20 years and create 800 jobs.