Clean energy faces continued suppression! The Trump administration plans to halt a $6 billion offshore wind project.

The Trump administration is moving to halt a planned offshore wind farm project near Maryland, the latest escalation in its attack on "objectionable clean energy," further intensifying its crackdown on the sector. According to court documents filed last Friday, the U.S. Department of the Interior plans to take legal action to revoke the permit previously granted to the "Maryland offshore wind farm project." The project, developed by US Wind, has an investment scale of $6 billion and is planning to build up to 114 wind turbines off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, about 10 nautical miles away. It was approved by the Biden administration in 2024 and was originally scheduled to start construction next year. In the large-scale "persecution" of clean energy, President Donald Trump has taken a highly targeted and aggressive stance against wind energy, often describing it as a "nuisance facility that kills birds." On his first day in office, Trump indefinitely suspended the sale of new offshore wind lease rights; subsequently, his administration suspended all approval processes for clean energy projects on federal land and waters. This latest move highlights the significant risks facing U.S. offshore wind developers, as their projects can only progress in federal waters controlled by the Trump administration. Just last Friday, the Department of the Interior halted a wind farm project being developed by Danish company Orsted A/S off the coast of Rhode Island, which had already completed 80% of the construction progress, leading to a historic drop in Orsted's share price. In April of this year, Interior Secretary Doug Bergen halted Equinor ASA's $5 billion investment in the "Empire Wind Farm" project off the coast of New York. However, a month later, the Trump administration reached an agreement with New York Governor Casey Hochul (to pave the way for a new natural gas pipeline in the state), and subsequently revoked this decision to stop the project. US Wind is majority-owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and China's Toto Holdings, with the company's project being the 10th offshore wind project approved during the Biden administration. The Biden administration had previously stated that the project was an important component of the plan to build offshore wind farms with a total installed capacity equivalent to approximately 30 nuclear power plants. "We still believe that federal permits obtained after years of rigorous public review are legally valid," said Nancy Sopko, Vice President of External Affairs for US Wind, in a statement. Environmental organizations point out that these "unprecedented actions" by the Trump administration will have a devastating impact on American workers, electricity consumers, and domestic investments. "The Trump administration's attacks on affordable energy have never stopped," said Pasha Van Bergen, offshore wind expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The American people were promised cheaper electricity, but this government is taking actions almost daily to raise prices."