Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy withdrew or terminated $679 million in funding for offshore wind-related port and infrastructure projects on Friday, declaring wind projects “doomed” and promising to reallocate the money to other port improvements.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Maritime Administration (Marad) are “refocused” on “rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capacity, unleashing more reliable, traditional forms of energy, and utilizing the nation’s bountiful natural resources to unleash American energy,” the agency said in an announcement.
It’s the Trump administration’s latest hammer blow against offshore wind energy, after weeks of amped-up rhetoric favoring legacy oil and gas energy over renewable power development.
“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Duffy said in a prepared statement. “Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry.”
The Trump administration is “prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little,” Duffy said.
The industry group Oceantic Network has pushed back on the Trump administration’s campaign, arguing that offshore wind development broadly benefits the U.S. maritime sector.
“The Trump administration is weakening our country’s national security and destroying good-paying jobs by pulling critical funding designed to update our aging maritime infrastructure,” Oceantic CEO Liz Burdock said Friday. “By selectively limiting infrastructure investments and removing mandated agreements in energy and shipyards, the administration is stalling essential development that delivers on shared priorities of national security and energy dominance, and signals to the investment community the U.S is not safe place for investment.”
“This political action from the administration is another targeted attack on American jobs and American taxpayers, which will raise electricity prices for millions across the U.S. and put thousands out of work.”
The DOT withdrew one project in the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program worth $427 million. Marad has withdrawn six projects and terminated five within its Port Infrastructure Development Program (PDIP), ending funding for $177 million and $75 million, according to DOT officials.
The projects include:
Withdrawn:
- Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project (PIDP; $47,392,500)
- Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project (PIDP;$10,530,000)
- Wind Port at Paulsboro (PIDP; $20,494,025)
- Arthur Kill Terminal (PIDP; $48,008,231)
- Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency & Development at the Port of Davisville Project (PIDP; $11,250,000)
- Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port (PIDP; $39,265,000)
- Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind (INFRA; $426,719,810)
Terminated:
- Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning (PIDP; $8,672,986)
- Salem Wind Port Project (PIDP; $33,835,953)
- Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project (PIDP; $11,051,586)
- Radio Island Rail Improvements in Support of Offshore Wind (PIDP; $1,679,604)
- PMT Offshore Wind Development (PIDP; $20,000,000)
