Stalled Offshore Wind Farm Gets a Reprieve Thanks to Wink-Wink Oil and Gas Deal

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also chimed in and made the quid pro quo a tad more clear: “I am encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity,” he said. “Americans who live in New York and New England would see significant economic benefits and lower utility costs from increased access to reliable, affordable, clean American natural gas.”

There is a chance this means the Constitution Pipeline, a project aimed at bringing fossil gas from Pennsylvania to New York and New Jersey blocked in 2020 on environmental grounds, might move forward after all. This is what “unleashing” American energy means under an Oil Administration, that a project that had four years’ worth of permits and approvals and was already being built is ground to a halt until some literal oil is used to grease the wheels.

Equinor — primarily an oil and gas company itself, of course — released its own statement confirming the stop work order had been lifted, and that construction on the project would resume.  “I would like to thank President Trump for finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.,” said the company’s CEO Anders Opedal, eliding the fact that this was a “solution” in search of a problem.

It plans to complete most of the work this year, with a “commercial operation date” set for 2027. Assuming no other blatant extortion demands crop up, Empire Wind’s 130 turbines will provide power for half a million homes.