WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department on Friday canceled $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects, the latest attack by the Trump administration on the reeling U.S. offshore wind industry.
Funding for projects in 11 states was rescinded, including $435 million for a floating wind farm in Northern California and $47 million to boost an offshore wind project in Maryland that the Interior Department has pledged to cancel.
“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”
The Trump administration has stepped up its crusade against wind and other renewable energy sources in recent weeks, cutting federal funding and canceling projects approved by the Biden administration in a sustained attack on clean energy sources that scientists say are crucial to the fight against climate change.
President Donald Trump has vowed to restore U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market and has pushed to increase U.S. reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.
California Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, called Duffy’s action “outrageous” and deeply disappointing.
Trump and his Cabinet “have a stubborn and mystifying hatred of clean energy,” Huffman said in an interview. “It’s so dogmatic. They are willing to eliminate thousands of jobs and an entire sector that can bring cheap, reliable power to American consumers.”
The canceled funding will be redirected to upgrade ports and other infrastructure in the U.S., where possible, the Transportation Department said.
Separately, Trump’s Energy Department said Friday it is withdrawing a $716 million loan guarantee approved by the Biden administration to upgrade and expand transmission infrastructure to accommodate a now-threatened offshore wind project in New Jersey.
The moves come as the administration abruptly halted construction last week of a nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. The Interior Department said the government needs to review the $4 billion Revolution Wind project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are.
Democratic governors, lawmakers and union workers in New England have called for Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to reverse course.
Trump has long expressed disdain for wind power, fre