Trump administration claims offshore wind poses a threat. But it won't say how.
toggle caption Michael Dwyer/AP/AP
Late last month, the Trump administration halted construction on billions of dollars worth of offshore wind projects after the Defense Department allegedly raised new national security concerns about the facilities. But no one outside the federal government seems to know what sort of threats the administration has found. So far, the government has been unwilling to release that information even to the companies building the projects.
The Interior Department sent stop-work orders on December 22 to the developers of five wind projects off the East Coast. The orders were based on classified reports recently completed by the Defense Department. The Interior Department said pausing construction would give federal agencies time to work with project developers to try to mitigate potential risks.
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Companies building infrastructure projects routinely work with the federal government to deal with issues that regulators raise, including around national security. Without information about newly-discovered threats, companies building the wind projects have said in court filings that they can't address the government's concerns.
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