NICK LORIS: Trump Already Won Gold Stopping Offshore Wind

(Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump is no fan of offshore wind. His administration has impeded its development since he began his second term. Projects have been suspended, new leases frozen, permits slowed or stopped altogether. Yet the biggest casualty of this largely successful harassment campaign could be realizing American energy dominance.

In its most recent foray against offshore wind, the administration announced it would appeal court rulings that have allowed five offshore wind projects to proceed despite last December’s blanket construction halt on national security grounds. Yet the Administration’s ongoing actions risks derailing the possibility of reforming our broken permitting system—a downside far greater than allowing five fully permitted wind projects to go forward.

The Trump administration did not pioneer executive intervention in energy policy. Democratic administrations took similar steps long before. President Barack Obama denied the Keystone XL Pipeline permit on weak grounds. His Environmental Protection Agency revoked an already-issued coal mine permit and preemptively vetoed another project in Alaska. The Biden administration canceled or restricted federal oil and gas leases, revoked Keystone XL’s permit a second time and paused liquefied natural gas exports. The dye was cast long ago. (RELATED: America First Legal Seems To Stump States Suing Trump Administration Over Offshore Wind)

To its credit, the Trump administration has reversed much of that approach, refocusing policy on American energy dominance and consumer affordability. With rising demand and prices, the United States needs more generation, pipelines, and........

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