The place Trump sees large ‘ugly’ windmills, Canada sees alternative

[ad_1] The U.S. president's warfare on wind energy simply retains coming.

"There are windmills far and wide, and they're losers," Donald Trump introduced to world leaders final month on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland.

"They are a joke, they do not work," Trump instructed the United Nations Basic Meeting final September, doubling down on his declaration on Day 1 of his second time period: "We're not going to do the wind factor."

His assaults on wind energy have soured buyers and builders within the U.S. offshore wind business. However the place Trump sees large "ugly" windmills, Canada sees alternative.

"There's a variety of eyes on Nova Scotia proper now," mentioned the province's premier, Tim Houston, who says offshore Atlantic Canada is likely one of the finest places on the planet for large-scale wind energy.

"The curiosity is thru the roof," Houston instructed CBC Information.

It is a bitter actuality for the New England coast, which is battling Trump's threats to intestine wind energy.

"I’m unhappy to say however Canada has an enormous alternative due to the stain the Trump administration has left" on wind energy, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse lately instructed CBC Information.

"Our loss will probably be Canada’s acquire."

<img loading="lazy" alt="U.S. Senator U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) attends a press conference on climate change, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed9f278a-0704-46a0-956e-a7027c78e3f8,1771878044973/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4000%2C2666%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed9f278a-0704-46a0-956e-a7027c78e3f8,1771878044973/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4000%2C2666%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed9f278a-0704-46a0-956e-a7027c78e3f8,1771878044973/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4000%2C2666%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ed9f278a-0704-46a0-956e-a7027c78e3f8,1771878044973/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4000%2C2666%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.5003750937734435" data-cy="image-img"/> U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, is seen throughout a press convention on local weather change in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 20, 2025. Whitehouse has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's antipathy to wind energy. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) A venture that promised 1,200 jobs Rhode Island is the epicentre of Trump’s newest warfare on wind. In late December, the Division of the Inside imposed stop-work orders on 5 offshore wind initiatives alongside the Atlantic Coast, together with Revolution Wind, 23 kilometres off the coast of Rhode Island and 85 per cent full.

Orsted, a Danish vitality large, and Skyborn Renewables are creating the venture, a 65-turbine wind farm to provide 704 megawatts of energy to 350,000 properties in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Revolution Wind promised 1,200 jobs, with many demanding specialised coaching to put in large turbine towers.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Harry Antone says workers were stunned when ongoing wind projects were suddenly stopped. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/50856877-912e-426e-8fc8-fb6ade1de086,1771861988496/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/50856877-912e-426e-8fc8-fb6ade1de086,1771861988496/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/50856877-912e-426e-8fc8-fb6ade1de086,1771861988496/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/50856877-912e-426e-8fc8-fb6ade1de086,1771861988496/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.3333333333333333" data-cy="image-img"/> Harry Antone, who's a part of Local weather Jobs Rhode Island, says employees have been excited concerning the new offshore wind business, which would offer long-term jobs establishing the windfarms and sustaining them. (Jill English/CBC) "This business was booming … there was a pipeline of labor that was promised for many years," mentioned Harry Antone, of Local weather Jobs Rhode Island, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the nation's greatest federation of unions.

"This stop-work order was issued days earlier than Christmas," Antone mentioned. "[The workers] really feel betrayed. They really feel like they have been punched within the intestine."

Elsewhere, a $300-million US refit turned the New London State Pier in Connecticut into an offshore wind staging hub. It’s stacked with large, 266-metre-high turbine towers with blades 97 metres lengthy, getting ready for his or her transport out to the ocean.

<img loading="lazy" alt="New London State Pier stacks up massive blades and turbine towers up to 250 meters high, before transporting them out to wind farms off the coast. " srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/00c81366-e067-4f68-a396-b1933d928eb9,1771878297038/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/00c81366-e067-4f68-a396-b1933d928eb9,1771878297038/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/00c81366-e067-4f68-a396-b1933d928eb9,1771878297038/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/00c81366-e067-4f68-a396-b1933d928eb9,1771878297038/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4032%2C3024%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.3333333333333333" data-cy="image-img"/> New London State Pier in Connecticut is a marshalling hub for offshore wind initiatives. Huge turbine towers stationed right here will probably be transported offshore and turn into a part of new wind farms. (Susan Ormiston/CBC) "The cash is already gone, the stuff's right here," mentioned Ian Kapura, a veteran development employee who labored on the pier, in an interview with CBC. "Why are you going to cease it now?"

Kapura mentioned it is "only a energy journey. [Trump is] simply attempting to make use of his muscle to get what he desires. Clearly, the administration is about oil and coal and gasoline."

"His complete administration is staffed by stooges of the fossil gasoline business," mentioned Sen. Whitehouse, a Democrat. "With all the funding that the fossil gasoline business has given to Trump, that is type of payback."

'A totally bogus declare' The Trump administration first tried to close down Revolution Wind in August, then once more in December, claiming it and 4 different initiatives posed nationwide safety dangers recognized by the Division of Defence, with no proof of these dangers.

WATCH | Trump's hatred of wind energy may benefit Canada: Trump sees large, ugly windmills. Canada sees alternative

Donald Trump has been attempting to intestine the U.S. wind energy business, however as CBC Information worldwide local weather correspondent Susan Ormiston explains, America’s loss might be Canada’s acquire. "That may be a utterly bogus declare," mentioned Kris Ohleth, director of the Particular Initiative on Offshore Wind (SIOW), an unbiased group for technique within the sector.

Orsted says Revolution Wind handed an intensive nationwide safety evaluation earlier than last approval in 2023, when Joe Biden was president.

After the Division of the Inside abruptly issued the stop-work orders in December, the wind corporations and several other states challenged them in courtroom. One after the other, courts overturned all 5 orders, permitting work offshore to quickly resume. However the primary authorized battle stays unresolved.

"What we've got seen, on this nation, whether or not it is offshore wind or in any other case, is that litigation is Trump's love language, and we've got to be taught to talk that language proper again to him," mentioned Ohleth.

Work on Revolution Wind is now resuming, however the harm is long-term. Orsted has spent billions on two wind farms on the Atlantic coast, then paid out greater than $100 million in authorized charges and prices to droop work on these initiatives, earlier than getting them again on observe.

All alerts from the present administration recommend the battle just isn't over. Inside Secretary Doug Burgum lately instructed Bloomberg Information the federal authorities will "completely" enchantment.

Firms are taking word. In an earnings name this month, Orsted CEO Rasmus Errboe mentioned "we've got no expectations in anyway to extend our publicity to offshore wind within the U.S."

Wind energy initiatives elsewhere That is why Whitehouse says large worldwide buyers and builders are on the lookout for areas exterior the U.S., to get across the "Trump mischief issue."

9 European international locations dedicated in January to hurry up wind energy growth within the North Sea, signing on to the Hamburg Delegation, which might add 100 gigawatts (GW) of recent capability to make sure vitality independence, safety and local weather objectives.

Canada is attempting to faucet a few of that enthusiasm for wind energy.

"Individuals within the business are trying world wide, they usually're seeing Nova Scotia, among the finest alternatives worldwide," Premier Tim Houston instructed CBC Information in an interview from Authorities Home in Halifax.

"The useful resource is there. These are unimaginable wind speeds … [some] of the very best on the planet," Houston mentioned.

He's pitching Wind West, the primary large-scale offshore wind mega-project off the Atlantic Coast. However it can require "large investments" — an estimated $40 billion to construct and one other $20 billion for transmission strains.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston talks to CBC News" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/c4572fce-d17e-4aed-b7ba-195374f2538c,1771879068010/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1920%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/c4572fce-d17e-4aed-b7ba-195374f2538c,1771879068010/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1920%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/c4572fce-d17e-4aed-b7ba-195374f2538c,1771879068010/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1920%2C1080%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/c4572fce-d17e-4aed-b7ba-195374f2538c,1771879068010/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C1920%2C1080%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.7777777777777777" data-cy="image-img"/> Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says 'curiosity is thru the roof' on a proposed wind farm off the Atlantic coast, however plans are nonetheless within the early levels. (David Laughlin/CBC ) This month, the premier signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Massachusetts to collaborate on wind energy, earlier than happening to New York because the keynote speaker at a significant ocean tech convention.

The plan for the province's Wind West is to initially generate 5 gigawatts of wind energy and ultimately rise up to 40 gigawatts. The province is anticipated to name for bid proposals this yr.

A current engineering report by Stantec commissioned by the federal and provincial governments acknowledged that Atlantic Canada is likely one of the finest locations globally for wind energy. However it additionally concluded the province was overstating its scale, saying wind energy technology might vary from 9 to 16 gigawatts, not 40.

The Stantec report additionally instructed transmission might be "financially prohibitive."

Houston says the province is speaking to the federal authorities and business for tactics to finance the initiatives. In September, Prime Minister Mark Carney talked about wind energy in Atlantic Canada as a possible candidate of the Main Tasks Workplace sooner or later.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Offshore wind power project Revolution Wind promises to provide power to 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut" srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/92afd7a3-2ba3-49b8-b2f3-d46558fdc7bb,1771861419296/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4629%2C3472%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/92afd7a3-2ba3-49b8-b2f3-d46558fdc7bb,1771861419296/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4629%2C3472%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/92afd7a3-2ba3-49b8-b2f3-d46558fdc7bb,1771861419296/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4629%2C3472%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/92afd7a3-2ba3-49b8-b2f3-d46558fdc7bb,1771861419296/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C4629%2C3472%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.3332373271889402" data-cy="image-img"/> The offshore wind energy venture Revolution Wind guarantees to offer energy to 350,000 properties in Rhode Island and Connecticut. (Jill English/CBC) Again in New England, Orsted and Revolution Wind expect to ship "first energy" inside weeks and are dashing to finish a second venture, Dawn Wind, which is slated to come back on-line subsequent yr.

Regardless of resistance from the present U.S. authorities, there may be hope, says Ohleth of the Particular Initiative on Offshore Wind, that funding might return.

"Whereas it is a problem and we've got to handle the maniac within the White Home within the interim, there are actual advantages being seen in these states, and I believe we'll nonetheless see the event of fresh [wind] energy," mentioned Ohleth.