Acting at the behest of the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior has paused the federal leases for large-scale offshore wind construction as of December 22nd. Three of the developers, Equinor (Empire Wind), Ørsted (Sunrise Wind and Revolution Wind), and Dominion Energy (Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind), have filed lawsuits seeking preliminary injunctions, and organizations in the labor and environmental movements have criticized the Trump administration’s latest effort to slash jobs in renewable energy.
Local 3, IBEW issued the following statement on the federal stop-work order:
“Local Union No. 3, IBEW is once again disappointed with the Trump administration’s attack on offshore wind and the unionized Building Trades workforce that has been successfully constructing projects up and down the East Coast. The impacts of its decision hurt International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers members, other Building Trades workers, and the residents and businesses of New York who are counting on clean energy to be added to the grid to help power our neighborhoods. Local Union No. 3, IBEW implores the Trump administration to immediately rescind its order so that we can get back to work.”
