President Donald Trump ordered his administration to lift an April stop work order halting a massive offshore wind farm being constructed off the coast of New York in exchange for the advancement of two natural gas pipeline projects, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum struck the deal over the weekend during a phone call with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D.), a senior White House official told the Free Beacon on Tuesday. Following that call, on Monday, the Interior Department formally removed its order halting foreign energy developer Equinor’s $5 billion Empire Wind project, which is being built about 12 nautical miles south of Long Island, N.Y., and consists of dozens of turbines.
Hochul immediately declared victory—”I fought to save clean energy jobs in New York, and we got it done,” she said—but acknowledged in her statement she had agreed to work with federal and private entities to permit new energy projects that promote reliability and affordability for consumers. “We will be working in earnest to deliver on these objectives,” Hochul continued.
While she did not initially specify which projects she would advance, the senior White House official confirmed to the Free Beacon that Trump received assurances on two natural gas pipeline projects proposed for New York: the Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline and Constitution Pipeline. Both would boost fossil fuel electricity generation in the state, but have faced significant opposition from environmental groups and, until now, state leaders, including Hochul.
“The president is not a fan of offshore wind and is very much a fan of natural gas and coal,” the official told the Free Beacon. “He basically made the argument that you need more of that into the northeast and into New York.”
“So he agreed that Empire Wind can move forward—it’s still under review by Interior, but it can technically move forward,” the official said. “The stop work order was lifted, and Gov. Hochul agreed that she would meet with and move forward on the two major pipelines that are natural gas pipelines into New England and New York.”
The deal between Trump and Hochul suggests the president is willing to make some concessions to increase the availability of fossil fuel power in Democratic-led states that have pushed for a green transition. New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 mandates that the state must achieve 100 percent zero-emission electricity generation by 2040 and reduce total emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
If the two pipelines are approved and constructed, it would represent a major setback for climate goals in New York and a victory for lawmakers and energy advocates who argue such plans will drive energy prices higher, increase the risk of blackouts, and threaten the reliability of the state’s power grid. New Yorkers already pay some of the highest electricity prices in the nation, federal data shows, and state regulators haven’t approved new fossil fuel infrastructure in years.
Williams Companies, the developer of both the Northeast Supply Enhancement and Constitution pipeline projects, did not respond to a request for comment.
And the details of the deal could assuage concerns that opponents of offshore wind development expressed after the Empire Wind stop work order was lifted Monday. Critics have argued the project will have devastating consequences for marine wildlife and the fishing industry in New York.
“It’s terribly disappointing,” Steve Milloy, a senior legal fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute, told the Free Beacon in an interview. “Trump has had nothing but negative things to say about offshore wind. He hates it. So, this is quite a shock.”
On the campaign trail and since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly blasted offshore wind development and pegged it for the documented uptick in whale mortalities.
The senior White House official who spoke to the Free Beacon on Tuesday, though, confirmed Trump continues to oppose offshore wind and that the removal of Empire Wind’s stop work order doesn’t impact any of the executive orders he has signed targeting offshore wind. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), a prominent critic of offshore wind development, echoed those comments.
“While today’s news is certainly not what we had hoped for and I am disappointed, it is important to remember that it is specific to one, and only one project, that had already begun construction off the coast of another state where they have a very different attitude towards such projects,” Van Drew told the Free Beacon in a statement.
“Empire Wind should serve as a reminder as to why it’s important to stand up and fight the industrialization of our coastline like we have so ferociously here in South Jersey,” he said. “I have spoken with the Trump administration and was glad to receive their reassurance that this changes absolutely nothing in regards to the ill-conceived projects that were originally planned off the coast of South Jersey and, that thanks to our efforts, are literally dead in the water.”
The Interior Department first issued its Empire Wind stop work order on April 16 and explained it took the action in light of serious deficiencies it had identified in how the Biden administration approved Empire Wind. The Free Beacon obtained a memo Burgum issued at the time stating that “approval for the project was rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies.”
The Biden administration approved the Empire Wind project in November 2023 and, just three months later, green-lit the project’s construction and operations plan.
After Burgum’s stop work order last month, Equinor said it may be forced to abandon the project altogether and New York, joined by several other states, filed a federal complaint challenging the action.
“I would like to thank President Trump for finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S. I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her constructive collaboration with the Trump administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York,” Anders Opedal, the president and CEO of Equinor, said Monday.
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