At the end of July, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management revealed in a statement that it was revoking a designation of over 3.5 million acres of federal waters for wind development, effectively killing offshore leasing for the foreseeable future.
Critics say the Trump administration acted counterproductively to its stated goals of boosting energy security and independence.
What’s happening?
On July 30, BOEM announced that it would redesignate all Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, making them ineligible for wind development.
The previous day, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum had announced that the Department of the Interior would no longer offer “special treatment” for wind centers.
Burgum also referred to wind technology as “unreliable” — flouting the recommendations of energy experts who say wind development boosts grid stability and would lower electricity costs in New England, particularly in winter,…
