WASHINGTON (Realist English). The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has cancelled $679 million in federal funding for offshore wind projects, marking his latest attack on renewable energy as the White House pivots toward fossil fuel expansion.
The cuts, announced Friday, affect 12 projects nationwide, including a $427m offshore wind terminal in California’s Humboldt Bay, which would have been the first of its kind on the Pacific coast.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defended the decision, calling the funding a waste of resources. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritising real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little,” he said.
The cancelled grants were awarded under former President Joe Biden’s administration as part of its push for green energy. Among those impacted are a $47m logistics and manufacturing hub near the Port of Baltimore, a $48m Staten Island offshore terminal in New York, and $33m for redeveloping an industrial site in Salem, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey condemned the decision, saying it would eliminate 800 construction jobs. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office accused the Trump administration of “assaulting clean energy and infrastructure projects – hurting business and killing jobs in rural areas, and ceding our economic future to China.”
The move follows a series of similar actions: halting construction of a nearly completed wind farm off Rhode Island and Connecticut, cancelling a large wind project in Idaho, and launching reviews of other offshore wind farms approved during Biden’s presidency.
Trump has long railed against wind power, dismissing it as costly, unreliable and visually intrusive. This week, he pledged to block new wind projects entirely. “We’re not allowing any windmills to go up unless there’s a legal situation where somebody committed to it a long time ago,” he said during a cabinet meeting.
Supporters of renewable energy argue the cancellations weaken U.S. competitiveness at a time when countries such as China are investing heavily in wind and solar industries. Healey warned: “The real waste here is the Trump administration cancelling tens of millions of dollars for a project that is already under way to increase our energy supply.”
