A key Senate Democrat in the permitting talks left the door open to ongoing negotiations, even after he threatened to walk away from the table just before the holiday recess over the Trump administration’s renewed attacks against offshore wind.
Asked Monday evening if permitting talks would continue, Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said the discussions were on pause.
“I think they said that they were pausing the offshore wind stuff. So I’m pausing the permitting reform negotiations,” Whitehouse said.
Just before the break, Whitehouse and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s ranking member, condemned the Trump administration for halting five offshore wind projects off the Atlantic Coast.
