Interior Secretary Doug Burgum personally ordered the halt of an offshore wind project off of New England in August, but federal officials later downplayed his participation, according to emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
Such direct involvement from a political appointee in an individual project is unusual, analysts and industry experts say. The sequence of events, shown in documents released to E&E News in a public records request, hint at the extent to which some of the most senior officials in the Trump administration are involved in the president’s anti-wind agenda.
Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order for Revolution Wind in August. The $6.2 billion offshore wind project is expected to generate enough power for 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
A draft update to BOEM’s website — included in the emails released to E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act — notes that “the Secretary of the Interior directed BOEM’s Acting Director to order Revolution Wind, LLC to halt ongoing activities.” The published version of the update, which is still on BOEM’s website, does not mention Burgum.
