Trump halts plans to develop new offshore wind projects amid energy policy shift
US President Donald Trump has cancelled plans for the development of new offshore wind projects in federal waters.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is rescinding more than 3.5 million acres (1.42 million hectares) designated as wind energy areas off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Maine, New York, California, and Oregon, as well as in the central Atlantic.
It announced on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for "speculative wind development".
The decision marks another move by the Trump administration to further suppress the growth of wind energy in the US.
Last year, former US President Joe Biden announced a five-year schedule to lease federal offshore areas for wind energy development. However, Trump has been consistently reversing the country's energy policies since taking office in January.
Instead, the Republican president has signed a series of executive orders aimed at increasing oil, gas and coal production.
Renewable energy rollbacks in the US
On Wednesday, US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced they would end preferential treatment toward wind and solar facilities, which were described as unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources.
The department is also considering withdrawing areas on federal land with high potential for onshore wind power to balance energy development with other uses such as recreation and grazing.
Trump has repeatedly expressed hostility towards renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and his fossil fuel agenda has drawn criticism from climate scientists and advocates.
On Thursday, the US Department of Energy also came under fire for praising coal, a move widely criticised as tone-deaf given the urgent reality of climate change and global warming, with worsening climate disasters and extreme weather across the globe.
Trump's latest criticism came during a visit to Scotland earlier this week, describing wind turbines as "ugly monsters" on Monday at a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging the British leader to rely on North Sea oil and gas instead.
A day prior, Trump also attacked wind energy during a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling it "a con job" that "doesn't work," misleading claims that have been widely debunked.