One of the top Senate Democrats negotiating permitting reform legislation said the Interior Department’s new agreements to end more offshore wind leases was “not a good thing,” though he stopped short of calling for another pause in the talks.
Asked twice whether Interior’s Monday announcement would impact negotiations to overhaul federal permitting rules, Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) twice responded, “It’s not a good thing,” without elaborating.
“It looks like they’re trying to bribe companies to stop projects that would lower costs for consumers because the extra money goes to their fossil fuel donors,” Whitehouse said separately of the deals.
They mean the Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind projects off New York and California are ending their existing offshore wind leases and instead invest in what Interior called “reliable conventional energy projects.”
