Supreme Court decisions usually give the winner a chance to take a victory lap. That didn’t happen when the high court ended a yearslong battle in favor of a Massachusetts offshore wind developer earlier this year.
The company’s response: no comment.
Vineyard Wind’s muted reaction to the Supreme Court decision — which undercut a lawsuit against the project — illustrates how offshore wind companies are trying to navigate a politically tumultuous period under President Donald Trump. As executive orders and regulatory actions designed to halt offshore wind projects have piled up, developers have hunkered down, hoping to avoid the attention of a president who disdains “windmills.” Many have chosen to advance projects in relative silence, staying quiet even as opponents have ratcheted up criticism of what they say are the industry’s negative environmental and economic impacts.
It marks a 180-degree turnaround from their approach under the Biden administration, when wind developers frequently appeared at White House celebrations and publicly celebrated minor project milestones. The shift underscores the lengths the Trump team has gone to stop offshore wind projects, and the massive stakes for companies that have invested billions of dollars in erecting wind turbines along the Eastern Seaboard.
