LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Trump administration is stopping construction of five offshore wind projects along the East Coast. Two of those projects are almost complete. Speaking to Fox Business, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said his agency is suspending the project's leases because of national security concerns.
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DOUG BURGUM: These large offshore wind programs create radar interference that creates a genuine risk.
FADEL: This is the latest in a long series of actions the administration has taken against the wind energy industry. WBUR's Miriam Wasser covers offshore wind, and she joins us now. Good morning, Miriam.
MIRIAM WASSER, BYLINE: Hi, Leila.
FADEL: So what is the administration saying the risks are from wind turbines?
WASSER: So the Interior Department issued a very brief statement on Monday, so details are limited.
FADEL: OK.
WASSER: But that statement said that a classified report from the Defense Department concluded that wind turbines were a national security risk. In particular, the Interior Department said that wind turbines interfere with radar.
FADEL: And is that true?
WASSER: It is true that turbines can interfere with government or military radar. They can create what's known as clutter and obscure legitimate moving targets or generate the impression of false ones. But it's also true that there are ways to limit these risks. And again, we don't know exactly what the government's evidence is. But Will Rogers, a national security expert with the Center for a New American Security, told me that none of these projects would've gotten to the construction phase if the Defense Department had concerns about national security.
WILL ROGERS: It's very late and very strange for the Department of Defense to be coming forward to say, oh, now we have a national security objection.
WASSER: It is certainly possible that the Trump administration has found something new, but we don't have much in the way of details.
FADEL: OK. So some skepticism there. Where are these five projects, and how far along are they?
WASSER: Two of the projects are near New York. Two are in New England, and the fifth is near Virginia. The New England projects are the farthest along, and they have dozens of turbines in the water. One of them, Vineyard Wind near Massachusetts, has been generating power for about a year. Following this new pause, it's not clear if it can continue to do so. I've reached out to the developer but haven't heard back.
FADEL: But what does it mean then for the Northeast to have the government just suddenly pause these projects?
WASSER: It's a big deal. A lot of states like Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey were counting on offshore wind to generate electricity close to where people live, which is largely along the coast. Suddenly losing these projects could be problematic. The New England regional grid operator, ISO New England, told me that the government's actions could pose reliability issues in the future and will almost certainly cause electricity prices to increase.
FADEL: Now, the Trump administration has pulled back support for renewable energy overall, but it's explicitly targeted offshore wind projects. Do we have any sense of why?
WASSER: Well, people I talked to seem to think it has a lot to do with the president's own views on wind. He's railed against it for more than a decade, calling turbines ugly and unreliable. I reached out to the White House, and a spokesperson said President Trump thinks offshore wind is, quote, "the scam of the century." And, Leila, I should say, I've covered this industry for several years, and offshore wind turbines do work. There have been offshore wind turbines operating in the U.S. for about a decade. And there's also no evidence that they harm whales, as the president often alleges.
FADEL: And what recourse do the backers of these wind projects have?
WASSER: That's a great question. I don't know. I've reached out to the developers behind these projects. Of those who responded, none explicitly said they were going to sue the government, but legal experts I've talked to expect that this will happen.
FADEL: Senior reporter Miriam Wasser with member station WBUR in Boston. Thank you, Miriam.
WASSER: Thank you, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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