What to know about wind power in the US as Trump administration pauses leases
Access Origianl Article HERE.
-----------
The Trump administration's decision to pause five offshore wind projects will have reverberating impacts on the nation's energy sector, according to experts in renewable energy.
"The U.S. is facing a historic increase in electricity demand," Lara Skinner, executive director of the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University, told ABC News. "One of the main reasons electricity prices are increasing in the U.S. is because we're not building and producing enough electricity."
Monday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that the Department of Defense had identified "emergency national security concerns" to warrant the halting of offshore wind projects along the East Coast.
The administration did not disclose the national security risks, only saying the Department of Defense found the threats in "completed classified reports."
Energy bills in US have increased 13% since Trump took office, new report finds
In a post on X, Burgum described the projects as "expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidized offshore wind farms."
The "national security" issue could be related to the interference with radar signal, Elizabeth Wilson, a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College, told ABC News.
The large towers and moving blades on wind towers reflect electromagnetic radiation, which can cause interference for radar systems, according to the Department of Energy. This can create clutter, reduce detection sensitivity, interfere with target tracking and impede critical weather forecasting, according to the DOE.
A 2022 report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine found that offshore wind farms can have "significant" electromagnetic reflectivity and interfere with radar systems operating nearby.
Countries like the U.K and Denmark have been using offshore wind for decades without any national security issues, Skinner noted.
Wind turbine bases, generators and blades are positioned at The Portsmouth Marine terminal that is the staging area for Dominion Energy's wind turbine project, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portsmouth, Va. Steve Helber/AP
Separately, not providing enough reliable energy to power the energy needs of U.S. citizens could also be seen as a "national security issue," according to Julie Lundquist, a Bloomberg distinguished professor of atmospheric science and wind energy at Johns Hopkins University.
What to know about Empire Wind, the wind farm now allowed to resume construction
Here is what to know about the wind power industry in the U.S.
Wind is the largest and most reliable source of renewable energy, experts say
About 10% of electricity generated annually in the U.S. comes from wind power, according to the Department of Energy.
There are currently about 75,000 wind turbines in the U.S., according to the Geological Survey's wind turbine database.
Three of Deepwater Wind's five turbines stand in the water off Block Island, R.I., Aug. 15, 2016. Michael Dwyer/AP
The majority of wind farms are located onshore in the Great Plains, with Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Illinois, Matthew Lackner, a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told ABC News.
In these regions, the winds are "steady and consistent," Lundquist said.
But in the eastern U.S., the wind supply is located offshore, Wilson said.
"Offshore wind farms would be valuable because it's generating a lot of domestic energy close to population sources, and we need that," Lundquist said.
Despite political challenges, renewable energy continues to grow worldwide: Reports
Experts condemn administration's decision to cancel offshore wind leases
The halting of these offshore wind projects would waste billions of taxpayer dollars as well as eliminate 6 to 8 gigawatts of annual power, Wilson said.
"That's like the Vogtle nuclear power plant times three," she said. Vogtle, located in Georgia, is the largest nuclear power plant in the country. And unlike nuclear energy, wind power does not create radioactive waste.
Put together, the five halted projects would have produced enough energy to power millions of homes in the U.S., according to Skinner.
"At a time when the U.S. needs to produce more electricity to lower utility costs for American families, President Trump's decision to stop projects that are close to completion is puzzling and concerning," she said.
Many of the administration's energy policies have focused on oil and gas production. This year, Republican-led Senate voted to overturn Biden-era Arctic protections and open the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to drilling.
Rotor blades and other parts for the ongoing construction of the Revolution Wind offshore wind turbine farm, staged on the State Pier in New London, Connecticut, September 23, 2025. Brian Snyder/Reuters
In addition, Trump has been touting the idea of a looming energy crisis in the U.S., campaigning heavily on the promise of increasing fossil fuel production.
Immediately upon taking office for his second term in January, Trump declared a "national energy emergency," claiming that leasing, development, production, transportation, refining and generation capacity of energy in the U.S. is "far too inadequate" to meet the nation's needs.
Offshore wind is an easy target "since siting is invariably in federal waters," James F. Manwell, founding director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Wind Energy Center, told ABC News.
Canceling the offshore wind leases will be detrimental for both the overall energy supply in the U.S. as well as the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, experts and advocates told ABC News.
"The Trump Administration's decision to stop construction of five major energy projects demonstrates that they either don't understand the affordability crises facing millions of Americans or simply don't care," Jason Grumet, CEO of American Clean Power, said in a statement.
The five turbines of America's first offshore wind farm, owned by the Danish company, Orsted, are seen from a tour boat flying the American flag off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 17, 2022. David Goldman/AP
Elie Bou-Zeid, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University, described the move as "a terrible decision that is made for purely ideological reasons."
"Without offshore wind, net-zero in the U.S. would be more expensive and complex," Bou-Zeid told ABC News. "More worryingly, with this decision, no investor or company will ever again trust the U.S. government again and make investments in green energy infrastructure."
Despite political challenges in the U.S., renewable energy has continued to grow worldwide, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency in October.
Last year, more than 90 percent of new electric power worldwide was from renewable sources, according to the data collected by the World Resources Institute.
Why the Trump administration is wrong about an energy crisis in the US, according to experts
Trump has long criticized wind turbines
Trump has been critical of wind power since his first term.
In 2019, the president claimed that the noises from wind turbines "cause cancer," and in May 2024 he stated that turbines "kill whales."
Trump has continued to make his distaste toward wind mills clear during his second term.
At a speech in Pennsylvania earlier this month, he said "wind is the worst," adding, "We don't want -- we don't approve windmills. We don't approve it. I'm sorry."
There are no case series, clinical studies or epidemiological studies reliably documenting a link between wind turbine exposure and cancer. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "There are no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities."
Wind turbines of South Fork Wind are seen off the coast of Block Island, R.I., Oct. 9, 2024. Seth Wenig/AP
A federal judge in December struck down an executive order signed by Trump on the first day of his second term that would have blocked wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms violates U.S. law and is "arbitrary and capricious."