What it was like to be building an offshore wind farm as Trump shut it down

"On August 22, Gianfrancesco was at home when he was awakened by a phone call. "It was my coworker, who said that they had randomly stopped the Revolution project," he says. "Honestly, I was pretty shocked about it. It came out of nowhere. And I was pretty uneasy because I didn't know if I was going to have a job in a week-and I still don't know if I'm going to have a job in a day or a month. Everything's up in the air.""

"The stop-work order came from the Trump administration, which cited unspecified "national security concerns" and told Ørsted, the Danish co-developer running the project, to pause everything. (A national security expert and former naval officer says that security concerns were already well vetted by the Department of Defense and others before the project was approved, and he points out that energy security is also a critical part of national security.)"

"Trump has opposed the wind industry ever since he failed to stop a wind farm near one of his golf courses in Scotland in 2006. After reportedly promising fossil fuel executives last year that he would deliver their policy wish list if they donated $1 billion to his presidential campaign, Trump stepped up attacks on renewable energy after taking office. (Fossil fuel companies didn't give $1 billion, but donated $450 million to influence Trump and Congress, according to one report.)"

For 17 months Antonio Gianfrancesco worked on the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, planned to include 65 turbines and power 350,000 homes. On August 22 the project received a sudden stop-work order, and workers were awakened to news that operations had paused, creating immediate job uncertainty. The administration cited unspecified national security concerns and ordered Ørsted, the Danish co-developer, to pause work. A national security expert and former naval officer said security vetting had occurred before approval and emphasized that energy security is a component of national security. The administration has taken multiple actions favoring oil and gas while opposing wind development.

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