President Trump recently signed an executive order to pause offshore wind leasing — a move that could have widespread impact on Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the site of a growing offshore wind industry.
The Ocean State is home to the country’s first offshore wind farm — Block Island Wind Farm — and continues to be a leader in the industry, The Herald previously reported.
Federal officials have been ordered to conduct “a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases,” according to the executive order.
While this development indicates “a change in policy at the federal level, (the) specific impacts on the New England region and individual projects remain unclear,” wrote Randy Burlingame, a spokesperson for ISO New England, in an email to The Herald.
“We expect things to change as policies change and technologies develop, but speculating on that uncertainty would prevent us from moving forward,” Burlingame added. ISO New England manages regional electricity markets and conducts necessary updates to the power grid.
Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, shared that the developer will “continue to assess the scope and implications of the executive orders” on its three U.S. projects. Ocean Winds backs SouthCoast Wind, a project developing a site located off the coast of Massachusetts that aims to provide energy to southeastern New England.
“Offshore wind farms are long term development projects, and we will keep on finding a path forward in coordination with all relevant authorities,” Michael Brown added.
Charlotte Calkins ’27, a co-hub coordinator for student environmental activist group Sunrise Brown, said the executive order is one of many obstacles often faced by offshore wind projects.
“These projects already faced a ton of delay because of lawsuits and injunctions … due to the large anti-shore wind movement,” Calkins said in an interview with The Herald. Opponents of offshore wind in Rhode Island have cited navigational concerns in the fishing industry as a reason to limit offshore wind development.
“If these projects face more delay, then the companies backing them up won’t be able to finance them and fund them,” Calkins added.
Burlingame said that “while the impacts of the executive orders are unclear at this time, we do have the tools in place to adapt.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Though offshore wind energy is a relatively new source of renewable energy, it has been vital to the Ocean State’s climate goals, said Christian Roselund, the leader of Climate Action Rhode Island’s Yes to Wind campaign.
In 2021, Gov. Dan McKee signed legislation mandating the state to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. A year later, Rhode Island set a goal to offset 100% of its electricity with renewable energy by 2033.
J. Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies, environment and society and sociology, anticipates that Trump’s order will have long-term environmental consequences on both local and national levels.
“This sets back emissions reductions by years, or maybe decades,” Roberts wrote to The Herald. He argued that the executive order will undermine the nation’s leadership in global climate action, adding that “if the U.S. doesn’t act, most other countries will not.”
Offshore wind is also critical for efforts to decarbonize the East Coast, Roselund said. “Compared to land-based wind, offshore wind has a much higher output, and there is a lot more space available in the Atlantic Ocean than there is in the fragmented land parcels available for wind development in New England.”
“Without offshore wind, I don’t see any viable route for Rhode Island to reach its renewable energy target,” Roselund concluded.
