End offshore windmills; get sued

www.americanthinker.com

Offshore wind projects, despite the cheerleading claims of developers and Democrat politicians, are financial and environmental disasters. They can only be built with massive taxpayer subsidies and never deliver the power claimed because they work only when the wind is blowing. If the wind is too strong, they’re forced to shut down or be torn apart, and maintenance—on the ocean—is difficult, dangerous, and expensive.

Graphic: X Post

There is also evidence wind turbines are deadly to whales, but the NOAA Fisheries claim there is insufficient evidence to support it. The US Fish and Wildlife Service admits they kill birds and bats, but cats, vehicles, and other causes kill more, so one’s level of concern seems to coincide with whether they’re killed by politically correct machines.

Interior Secretary Doug Bergum notes:

“Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers.

With that in mind, President Trump is working to eliminate those wind farms, so of course, he’s being sued:

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Kathy Hochul are suing the Trump administration over a March agreement between the Interior Department and TotalEnergies that cancels the company’s New York Bight offshore wind lease and reimburses the company for the $795 million it paid in 2022.

So, where’s the damaged party?

At the center of the dispute is Lease OCS-A 0538, a New York Bight lease awarded in 2022 for approximately $795 million. The area was slated to support Attentive Energy One, an offshore wind project expected to supply electricity directly to New York City, power more than 700,000 homes, and generate an estimated $25.6 billion in economic benefits over its lifetime. State officials said the project would have created roughly 1,700 jobs and reduced energy costs for New Yorkers by an estimated $10 billion.

That’s an example of greenie cheerleading. Those estimates never pan out, nor do the number of jobs they‘re supposed to create. Wind and solar never decrease energy costs, rather they increase them, usually substantially, and how they could “generate an estimated $25.6 billion in economic benefits” is anyone’s guess.

The legal challenge marks the latest chapter in an escalating battle over offshore wind development after the Trump administration shifted tactics following a series of court defeats earlier this year.

Federal courts previously blocked efforts to suspend several offshore wind projects on national security grounds, including Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind. In response, the administration adopted a new strategy of negotiating financial settlements that encourage developers to relinquish offshore wind leases and redirect capital toward conventional energy projects.

That’s a win-win. The company loses nothing and stands to make a considerable profit building reliable, far less costly energy projects that don’t require government subsidies to build or operate. The company apparently agrees:

“TotalEnergies is pleased to sign this settlement agreements with the DOI and to support the Administration’s Energy Policy. Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees Furthermore, these agreements, under which we will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities, allows us to support the development of U.S. gas production and export. These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies.

Letitia James and Kathy Hochul have made careers out of suing Donald Trump, and this lawsuit will inflame the dying climate change industry, but reality is reality, as TotalEnergies obviously agrees. James and Hochul will likely find a sympathetic judge to rule in their favor despite there being no damaged parties, and the case will drag on for years. But no judge will get away with ordering TotalEnergies to build windmills, and in the meantime, New Yorkers will have the potential of paying less for reliable energy. Unless, that is, Hochul taxes them more out of spite.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer, and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.