The Interior Department asserts radar interference and a national security threat to pause offshore wind projects.
This story was originally published in The New Bedford Light, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.
President Donald Trump has escalated his war against offshore wind, now going after all five under-construction projects, including Vineyard Wind, and using the Department of Defense (now called the Department of War) in his clampdown.
On Monday morning, the Interior Department announced it is immediately “pausing” the leases for Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, due to “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.” A press release from Interior asserts the radar interference created by wind arrays is a national security threat.
Vineyard Wind is almost done with construction, with only one turbine tower left to send out, and then some blade sets to install. It has been sending power to the grid all through the year. It is unclear if the project must now cease sending power.
“Their leases will be suspended due to national security concerns,” Interior Department Doug Burgum told Fox News during an appearance Monday. “During this time of suspension, we’ll work with companies to try to find a mitigation. We completed the work that President Trump has asked us to do. The Department of War has come back conclusively.”
The Interior press release said the pause will give the government “time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.”
In the statement, Burgum said the freeze “addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.”
Per Interior, public reports have “long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference” that “obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects.”
The announcement comes two business days after a federal judge issued a final judgement Thursday following her earlier order striking down Trump’s day-one wind memo. Just as with the comprehensive review ordered by the January memo, the federal government has provided no timeline for this review of under-construction leases.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has previously undertaken research and review for the federal government regarding offshore wind development. In 2022, a committee released an 82-page report on how offshore wind farms can interfere with vessel radar.
Still, fishing vessels, for example, have already been navigating the wind arrays, and research was set to get underway early next year on how fishing boats behave in operating wind farms.
This is a developing story.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org
