The Offshore Wind Industry Is Forever (Offshore Wind Jobs, Not So Much)

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Cry me a river. Wait, make that two rivers. On Friday, August 29, the Trump administration yanked another rug out from under the US offshore wind industry, sending thousands of construction jobs spinning into the black hole of malevolent incompetence that passes for the US government these days. How many of those jobs were held by Trump voters remains to be counted, but … yeah, cry me a river.

Trump Kills More Offshore Wind Jobs … Shocker!

USA Today took stock of the situation on August 27, shortly after Trump’s Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, single-handedly shut down the Revolution Wind offshore project in New England. The work was 80% complete but hundreds of workers were still busy tying up the loose ends when they were all sent home by Secretary Burgum.

“A lot of building trades workers, a lot of union workers, voted for Donald Trump and his team. But they didn’t vote to have union jobs shut down,” Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley told USA Today. “It shouldn’t work like this.”

Actually, it does work like this, and they did vote to have their jobs shut down. Trump’s antipathy to wind turbines is a well-known fact that he has proclaimed often, and loudly, ever since first campaigning for President in 2016. That was nine years ago. That makes nine years of promising to kill the US wind industry, onshore and off, right on up to and including the campaign year of 2024.

Last year, Trump also promised that the US would have “only two sexes” if he won the office again. Apparently some voters decided that having two sexes, and only two sexes, was more important than, you know, making a living.

“For our folks, this is work, this is make or break for them,” Crowley also told USA Today. “When you get a chance to work on a project that’s going to be around for months at a time, that provides you and your family such a sense of stability. And to have this happen? I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Hey Guys, Brace Yourself For Another Round Of Offshore Wind Layoffs

In the weeks following Election Day 2024, Associated Press was among those noting that support for Democratic candidates continues to run high among unionized workers and others holding construction jobs, so it’s not clear that Crowley’s observation is a by-the-numbers reflection of the Trump votes cast by people who have a personal interest in working for a living.

Still, AP was also among those emphasizing that the trends has been shifting towards Republican candidates in general, and Trump in particular. “But with Trump’s populist appeal, his working-class base saw a decent share of union rank-and-file voting for Republicans this year,” AP reported on November 23 last year.

“Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members,” AP added.

If that is indeed the case, then the Rhode Island wind workers who voted for Trump will have plenty of company as they cool their heels around the kitchen table. Revolution Wind is just one among several parts of the US offshore wind industry that were already in motion when Trump took office with intent to kill.

That brings us to Friday, August 29, the day when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy helped to ensure that the bleeding of union jobs continues. Duffy issued an order clawing back $679 million in federal funds that had been allocated for 12 portside improvement projects that were to have supported the offshore wind industry, funded through his agency’s Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program and the Port Infrastructure Development Program.

So, there goes more jobs. They are probably not coming back. The offshore wind industry, on the other hand, will be just fine. The technology is not going anywhere, and there are plenty of opportunities to create new jobs building offshore wind farms in other countries.

Offshore Wind Or Not, These Jobs Are Toast

The reaction to Friday’s announcement was swift, not that it matters. The Republican majority in Congress has gleefully permitted the President to overr-reach his Constitutional authority on a daily basis ever since January 20. Why should August 29 be any different.

Here’s a representative sample from Democratic Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts:

“In unlawfully and senselessly cutting hundreds of millions in federal funding to offshore wind projects, Trump just signed a death warrant for thousands of union jobs nationwide and guaranteed that families’ energy bills will continue to skyrocket.” 

Liz Burdock, President of the offshore wind trade organization Oceantic Network, also pointed out that the impact of the August 29 order will spread far beyond the offshore wind industry. “Offshore wind port development upgrades facilities and capabilities that serve multiple industries,”  she said, noting that the offshore wind industry has brought new jobs to seaports by reviving underused and idled facilities, some of which had lain fallow for decades.

That’s news to Transportation Secretary Duffy and his gang of taxpayer-paid office workers. “Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Duffy said in a press statement.

“Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little,” he said, adding insult to injury.

Lie Down With Dogs, Wake Up With Fleas

Not to worry! Duffy will use the money to make more jobs at US seaports. No harm, no foul amirite? “Where possible, funding will be used to invest in real infrastructure, restoring American maritime dominance,” Duffy’s office declared.

That remains to be seen. Meanwhile, as may be expected the axe fell almost entirely on states headed up by Democratic governors. Here’s the list posted by Senator Markey, with the states added in:

Withdrawn:

[Maryland} Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project (PIDP; $47,392,500)

[Connecticut] Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project (PIDP;$10,530,000)

[New Jersey] Wind Port at Paulsboro (PIDP; $20,494,025)

[New York] Arthur Kill Terminal (PIDP; $48,008,231)

[Rhode Island] Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency & Development at the Port of Davisville Project (PIDP; $11,250,000)

[Virginia] Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port (PIDP; $39,265,000)

[California] Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind (INFRA; $426,719,810)

Terminated:

[California] Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning (PIDP; $8,672,986)

[Massachusetts] Salem Wind Port Project (PIDP; $33,835,953)

[New York] Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project (PIDP; $11,051,586)

[North Carolina] Radio Island Rail Improvements in Support of Offshore Wind (PIDP; $1,679,604)

[Virginia] PMT Offshore Wind Development (PIDP; $20,000,000)

What do you bet New York Governor Kathy Hochul is on the phone with Trump right now, working to get that $11 million+ project back in motion? Earlier this year Hochul negotiated a restart of the Empire Wind offshore project, with gas pipeline projects in her state as bargaining chips. Perhaps she has another card to play.

Let’s see what Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has to say about this, too. Youngkin is the only Republican governor on Duffy’s hit list, and he must be wondering what he did wrong. After all, Youngkin has affirmed his support for the Trump agenda all throughout this year.

On the other hand, Youngkin is also the rare, if not the only, Republican governor in the US to champion an offshore wind project. With Youngkin’s support the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is well under way, safe from the knives of the Trump administration — for now, at least.

As of this writing, Youngkin has yet to issue a public response to the loss of more than $60 million in federal funding. Maybe he never will. Why should he? After all, Youngkin is term-limited, and the smart money says  a Democratic governor will inherit the whole mess after Election Day in November.

Photo (cropped): On August 29, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that 12 portside projects in support of the US offshore wind industry will lose their federal funding (courtesy of US DOT).