Trump brings offshore wind projects to a screeching halt

January 2, 2026

Turbines at Vineyard Wind 1, south of Martha’s Vineyard.

National security argument is a lot of hot air

Re “President halts wind projects offshore: Vineyard site among five targeted in latest salvo” (Page A1, Dec. 23, 2025): Sometimes transparency means we can see right through you, and the Trump administration calling wind farms a threat to national security is a perfect example. Whose security is actually threatened by alternative energy sources? Emphatically not consumers or taxpayers.

In Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind already can generate 572 megawatts of power and eliminated about $2 million a day in ratepayer costs during recent frigid weather. Abandoning existing, functioning infrastructure squanders taxpayer money. And putting 4,000 Massachusetts workers’ jobs at risk to dismantle renewable projects during the winter holidays is a Scrooge move of epic proportions.

To be clear, the administration’s edict doesn’t just pause progress — it tears it down. The claim of radar interference seems fabricated out of thin air. Crafting minor radar interferences into a calamitous national security narrative to sabotage clean energy only distracts from real threats.

Meanwhile, we see fossil fuel combustion being maintained and increased by the folks who bought the heart and soul of our craven president. It’s the security of their businesses that is threatened by wind. They continue to destabilize our climate while proven renewable technology sits idle, and that is a real security threat.

Norah Dooley

Royalston

Opponents could find a counterpunch in Congress

Do you remember how in 2016 Hillary Clinton was pilloried on the campaign trail for saying, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business”? Donald Trump’s latest attempt to kneecap the offshore wind industry and its thousands of construction jobs is far worse. Clinton was talking about the inevitable market collapse of an obsolete fuel; Trump’s action is a reckless shutdown of an industry that already delivers power to the grid, the centerpiece of our region’s future energy strategy.

But our senators have some leverage. The Republicans are anxious to pass the SPEED Act, which, by placing limits on environmental reviews and lawsuits, would grease the skids for all the new gas plants the administration wants for data centers.

The SPEED Act has passed the House, but the Senate should not budge on it until the suspension of offshore wind leases is lifted.

Frederick Hewett

Cambridge

Another stop on the president’s revenge tour

President Trump has blocked Vineyard Wind and four other major wind projects. Apparently this is part of his revenge tour. Remember, wind turbines sullied the view from one of his golf courses. And, of course, his friends and donors in the fossil fuel industry profit from stopping renewable energy.

This move will cost jobs, worsen the environment, cede leadership in renewable energy — the energy of the future — to other countries, discourage investment in the United States, and make energy more expensive.

Is this what Americans voted for?

Susan Donaldson

Northampton

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