Washington, D.C. – In a bold strike against renewable energy initiatives, the Trump administration on Friday terminated $679 million in federal grants for 12 offshore wind projects nationwide, with nearly $500 million of the cuts slashing California’s ambitious coastal plans. The decision, announced by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, prioritizes “America’s maritime dominance” over what officials deem “doomed” green ventures, escalating the president’s long-standing war on wind power.
The cancellations target port infrastructure and logistics hubs critical for offshore turbine assembly, including the massive $427 million earmarked for California’s Morro Bay and Humboldt Bay projects – key to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of 5,500 megawatts by 2030. Duffy, in a DOT briefing, lambasted the funds as “wasteful” under the Biden-era Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, redirecting resources to fossil fuel ports and shipbuilding. “These weren’t investments; they were subsidies for unreliable energy,” he declared, echoing Trump’s first-term rollbacks that stalled East Coast farms.
Newsom’s office erupted in condemnation, calling the move an “assault on clean energy” that kills jobs in rural coastal communities and hands leadership to China and Europe. “At a time when countries are doubling down on offshore wind, we’re ceding our economic future,” said senior advisor Jana Ganion, vowing state-level funding to salvage the projects. California’s $475 million offshore commitment, approved last week for 2025-26, now hangs in limbo without federal backing.
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club decried the cuts as “climate sabotage,” warning of delayed decarbonization and higher energy costs. Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, cheered the fiscal restraint, tying it to Trump’s “America First” pivot amid inflation woes. As lawsuits brew and midterms intensify, the axing underscores a green divide: fossil revival or renewable retreat? For California, it’s a gut punch to Newsom’s legacy – billions in potential power lost to partisan winds.
