Trump Wastes More Taxpayer Money Blocking Wind
While the clear need for expanded clean renewable energy sources only grows, the Trump Administration is continuing to drive action in the opposite direction. Last week, NCLCV reported on the administration’s actions dramatically increasing subsidies requiring that dirty, dangerous coal plants slated for retirement continue to operate instead.
Duke Energy’s Dirty Deal
On June 29, the Trump Energy Department announced a deal with Duke Energy, under which the federal government would pay Duke $129 million in taxpayer funds to abandon its lease of wind energy development rights in a section of waters off the North Carolina coast. Duke announced that it will spend the funds on other energy sources development, likely including nuclear and gas. Added to the earlier deal reached with French energy developer TotalEnergies, the Trump Administration is paying over a billion dollars to companies abandoning wind development rights off the North Carolina shore. A coalition of states is already suing the Administration over its earlier deals, calling them an illegal use of taxpayer funds.
Environmental and clean energy groups immediately condemned the deal with Duke Energy. “We’ve seen this horror movie before — North Carolina families are struggling to pay outrageous energy bills and demanding their elected officials do something about it. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is blocking cheaper clean energy by bribing utilities and energy companies like Duke Energy to increase our reliance on fossil fuels,” said NCLCV Senior Director of Public Affairs Dan Crawford. “It’s an unbelievable combination of out-of-touch politicians rewarding greedy corporations, while taxpayers foot the bill twice — with our tax dollars and our power bills!”
Canceling Wind Projects Threatens Reliability and Raises Costs
“We are disappointed to see another offshore wind farm opportunity taken off the table for North Carolina. At a time when electricity demand is surging and grid reliability is under increasing strain, we need to add energy options, not remove them,” said Southeastern Wind Coalition president Katharine Kollins. “It is unfortunate that the federal government continues to pick winners and losers in the energy space, especially when we’ve seen strong performance from the four existing offshore wind farms currently operating in U.S. waters.”
“We need more electricity, not less. Canceling clean energy projects is self-defeating. Paying off companies so they will abandon them is just ludicrous. This is a lose-lose proposition. The Trump administration is wasting our money paying companies not to produce energy,” said Pasha Feinberg, offshore wind strategist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “It’s long past time for the Trump administration to end its war on new energy so that customers’ bills won’t keep rising and our nation can meet its growing electricity demands.”
