(Reuters) -President Donald Trump has suspended new federal offshore wind leases pending an environmental and economic review, saying wind turbines are ugly, expensive and damaging.
“We’re not going to do the wind. Big, ugly windmills. They’ll ruin your neighborhood,” he said.
Without providing evidence, he said offshore wind projects were behind an increase in whale deaths off the US East Coast in recent years.
He added: “They are the most expensive form of energy you can have by far. And they kill your birds and they ruin your beautiful landscapes.”
A White House press release said Trump issued an executive action suspending offshore wind leasing from all areas of the U.S. outer continental shelf pending an environmental and economic review.
The order is not expected to affect existing US offshore wind projects provided by companies such as Orsted (CSE :), Avangrid (NYSE :), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Dominion.
The move raised concerns among wind energy representatives, who said Trump’s position contradicted Trump’s promise to maximize national energy production.
“A National Energy Emergency requires us to unleash all necessary sources of American energy – including offshore wind,” said Hillary Bright, executive director of Offshore Wind Advocacy Group Close Ahead.
Former US President Joe Biden saw Wind Power as a key part of his strategy to decarbonize the US energy sector to fight climate change and his administration held multiple auctions aimed at developing major new projects.
Trump’s opposition to wind energy represents an inversion of his first term, when his administration had also tried to encourage offshore wind development.
The suspension came as Trump also laid out a sweeping plan to maximize U.S. oil and gas production while also withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Paris climate pact aimed at combating global warming.
