Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says permits were ‘rushed through’ under Biden
The Trump administration is halting construction of a massive offshore wind project being built in federal waters off the coast of New York and ordering a sprawling review of existing offshore wind permits, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday to order foreign energy developer Equinor to cease all construction activities on its Empire Wind project, according to a memorandum obtained by the Free Beacon. Burgum said the Biden administration green-lit permits for the project and ultimately approved it without conducting proper analysis.
“Approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project,” Burgum wrote. He said the halt on Empire Wind will be in effect indefinitely until further review is completed to “address these serious deficiencies.”
Burgum additionally ordered Interior Department staff to continue a review of federal wind permitting practices related to both existing and pending permits and approvals.
Burgum’s actions represent a significant blow to both the Biden administration and the green groups it worked with to usher in a transition away from oil and gas. The Biden Interior Department prioritized offshore wind as part of its climate agenda and rapidly approved 11 commercial-scale projects between 2021 and 2024.
The Biden administration formally approved the Empire Wind project in November 2023. Three months later, the administration green-lit the project’s construction and operations plan. “The Biden-Harris administration is committed to advancing offshore wind projects like Empire Wind to create jobs, drive economic growth, and cut harmful climate pollution,” then-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management director Elizabeth Klein said at the time.
But the memorandum Wednesday is a significant victory for the fishing industry, wildlife advocates, and local grassroots groups that have vociferously opposed offshore wind development. Critics argue the planned industrialization of American oceans will devastate marine-based industries, harm wildlife like whales, interfere with military operations, and disrupt scenic beach views that are critical for tourism revenue in coastal communities.
Heeding those arguments and following through on a central campaign promise, President Donald Trump paused new approvals, permits, leases, and loans for wind projects until the Department of the Interior completes a full assessment of how such projects were approved under the Biden administration. Burgum’s halt of the Empire Wind project represents the first action of its kind since Trump ordered that review three months ago.
The action Wednesday, meanwhile, is timely. Last week, Equinor quietly initiated construction on Empire Wind off of New York’s coast, stating in a little-noticed filing that rock installation around the project’s underwater turbine bases would begin later this month, the first step in erecting 54 wind turbines, Canary Media first reported.
Equinor separately issued an internal construction update, stating that underwater robots and human divers had been deployed to help initiate construction.
Those developments caused some critics of offshore wind to raise the alarm and call on the Trump administration to intervene.
“It’s the industrialization of our ocean, rubber-stamped by federal agencies and delivered by a foreign-owned corporation under the guise of climate action,” wrote Bonnie Brady, the executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. “It is corporate welfare disguised as environmentalism, and the costs are far too high.”
Brady noted that construction of the project includes dumping 3.2 billion pounds of rock into the ocean and pile-driving massive 180-foot monopoles into the seafloor, both of which she said will destroy marine habitat and threaten the fishing industry. She also said the construction will cause underwater noise and vibration that could fatally injure endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale.
Overall, if constructed, Empire Wind’s dozens of turbines would sit just 12 nautical miles south of Long Island, New York, and power a portion of New York City’s electric grid. The project also received backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul (D., N.Y.), who said last year that “offshore wind is a critical piece of our clean energy blueprint to address the climate crisis.”
Equinor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
