Trump Administration Announces Plan to Pay $1 Billion Not to Build Wind Power
With energy prices surging, Interior Secretary Burgum agrees to pay TotalEnergies not to develop wind projects
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration today announced a “landmark agreement” to pay $928 million to energy giant TotalEnergies to cancel its planned wind farm projects off the coasts of New York and North Carolina. As part of an agreement to cancel and reimburse TotalEnergies for offshore wind leases worth $928 million, TotalEnergies is agreeing to invest in a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Texas, as well as offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling projects. In response, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“The Trump administration’s rampant disregard for the need to diversify energy sources, even as fossil fuel prices soar, has now resulted in a $1 billion corporate bailout for fossil fuels instead of new renewable energy. Since the Interior Department’s anti-renewables strategy has failed in court several times, Donald Trump and Doug Burgum have come up with a new strategy: waste taxpayer money and harm Americans by paying companies not to develop cheaper, cleaner, renewable power.
“A few short years ago, Burgum was a moderate Republican governor of North Dakota who presided over a boom in wind farms and set a goal of making his state carbon-neutral. As Secretary of the Interior, he has transformed into a MAGA sycophant who will do everything he can to kill the offshore wind industry.
“Losing these offshore wind projects compounds the harm of Trump’s disastrous energy policy. Rather than transition the U.S. to cleaner, safer energy sources as any responsible leader would, or even lower energy costs as he promised, Trump’s policy is all about lining the pockets of fossil-fuel billionaires at the expense of American families.”
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