The Department of Transportation has moved to withdraw and terminate approximately $679 million worth of funding for what the agency described as “doomed” offshore wind projects, in the Trump administration’s latest move to crack down on the green energy resource. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that the funding will be redirected from infrastructure projects that would have supported offshore wind development and instead will be used to boost the maritime industry.

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“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Duffy said in a statement. 

Former President Joe Biden and Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg “bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry,” he continued. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”  

The redirected funds are now poised to be used to support expanding the Maritime Administration’s shipbuilding capacity, to unleash traditional forms of energy, and to utilize natural resources to support the energy industry. 

The Transportation Department is specifically targeting 12 offshore wind-related grants that no longer align with the goals of the administration. Many of these projects affected by the decision were set to serve as manufacturing hubs and ports for future offshore wind farms. 

Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind, a planned marine terminal off the coast of California, will see the biggest loss, of around $427 million in federal funding. The terminal is intended to support the build-out of offshore wind in California, including through deploying 5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.  

The Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project in Baltimore, Maryland, is set to lose over $47 million in federal support. This site of this project was once the home of the largest steel production facility in the world. Offshore wind developer US Wind intends to use the port to produce foundations and other steel components needed for installing wind turbines off the coast of Maryland. 

It is no secret that President Donald Trump detests wind energy projects, particularly those offshore. The industry has remained in the crosshairs of the administration all summer, as the president and his Cabinet have moved to make it more difficult for wind projects to be built over the next four years. 

Trump himself has promised not to let any new projects be built while he is president. 

Much of the crackdown has been led by the Department of the Interior, but Duffy also launched a department-wide review regarding wind project safety concerns at the end of July. 

DUFFY SAYS BUTTIGIEG IGNORED SAFETY CONCERNS TO BUILD WIND TURBINES NEAR ROADS

The Transportation Secretary claimed at the time that Buttigieg ignored safety recommendations for dozens of wind projects near highways and railroads. 

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg put climate religion ahead of safety — blatantly ignoring engineers who warned of the danger of constructing wind turbines near railroads and highways,” Duffy said.