Oooh, wasn't there some more welcome news on the Green grifting front yesterday. 

Back in January, even as Trump had already expressed his opposition to renewable energy in general and his disgust with the wind industry in particular, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, in concert with the Biden administration's last minute dash to shove big Green grifting bucks and project approvals out the door, gave their final blessing to something called 'Empire Wind.' 

On an 80,000-acre (125 sq mi) lease 15 miles southeast of Long Island, Norwegian energy company Equinor was going to drop the first offshore wind farm connected directly to the Big Apple's grid. All for for the bargain price of $3B.

What was not a bargain were the rates the company locked in with the state of NY before a single survey had been done - they were going to be twice the national average.

...NYC's new clean energy project will cost significantly more.

Equinor, the developer behind Empire Wind 1, secured an 80,000-acre (125-square-mile / 32,375-ha) lease located 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Long Island. Along with the lease, the company locked in a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to deliver power at a strike price of $155 per megawatt-hour over the next 25 years – nearly double the national average, and roughly the typical 20 to 25-year life expectancy for a sea-faring wind turbine. High winds, constant motion from waves, and harsh saltwater corrosion are the leading causes of shortened shelf life.

Along with the cost shock, the fierce and vociferous objections from fishermen, residents, wildlife activists, and wind opponents (who have all gotten better organized and more sophisticated doing battle with Biden and the wind industry mafia) meant Empire Wind, despite all blessings from the fading regime, had a fight on its hands.

Anticipating rough weather, the wind farm developers picked up the pace and started getting crap out to the site as quickly as they could. 

Offshore Wind is Full Speed Ahead Off NY & NJ—But WHY? Empire Wind 1 is pushing forward with the construction of 54 massive wind turbines and a substation. If offshore wind is facing major roadblocks, how is THIS still charging ahead? Who’s making the calls—and why aren’t they… pic.twitter.com/3DjDKeMZWw

— SaveLBI (@saveLBIorg) April 2, 2025

New Jersey Congressmen Jeff Drew and Chris Smith were outraged at Equinor's actions in the face of President Trump's pretty succinct Executive Order, which paused approvals for new farms until their original initial review process could be thoroughly reexamined.

Rep. Smith: Empire Wind starting construction before Pres. Trump’s critical reassessment of offshore wind is dangerous & reckless

In a letter to Secretary of the Interior Burgum, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is bringing attention to defiant plans of wind turbine developer Equinor to… pic.twitter.com/2o7xHtOj54

— Protect Our Coast NJ (@njcoast_protect) April 1, 2025

...In a letter to Secretary of the Interior Burgum, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is bringing attention to defiant plans of wind turbine developer Equinor to begin construction on an offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey and New York despite President Trump’s January 20th executive order which paused new approvals for offshore wind farms until the Trump Administration can perform greater scrutiny. 

“Equinor, a Norwegian multinational energy company, announced its intent to begin subsea rock installation within the Empire Wind 1 Lease area as soon as this April,” Smith said. “This announcement comes despite President Trump’s order which specifically references the need to examine shortcomings in the approval process for offshore wind, including potential inadequacies in various environmental reviews.” 

“It’s an alarming development that flies in the face of the comprehensive review of offshore wind ordered by President Trump in his January 20th executive order. The Norwegian company’s intention here is clear,” Smith added, “it is trying to push through its questionable project based on the rubber-stamp approval received from the Biden Administration.” Smith said that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process under the Biden Administration, when Empire Wind was approved, was “completely inadequate” and failed to answer critical questions related to national security, environmental health, and the economic wellbeing of nearby communities. The results, he said, could be “catastrophic,” disrupting some of the nation’s busiest waters and negatively affecting important radar systems. 

Smith noted that BOEM has never supplied a compelling argument for mitigation on a slew of problems offshore wind is expected to create in the Northeast region. For years, Smith has been pointing out the lack of serious scrutiny and proper environmental vetting, as well as the legal deficiency of these projects, fighting to secure answers from the Biden Administration. Last Congress, Smith wrote legislation—which was passed by the House of Representatives in July 2023—that would require presidential certification that offshore wind projects would not “weaken, degrade, interfere with, or nullify the capability of radar relied upon by the Federal Aviation Administration or the Armed Forces.”...

It was almost as if Equinor heard a clock ticking or something. The company was surreptitiously frantic in their efforts to get materials into the water.

... Last week, Equinor quietly initiated construction on Empire Wind off of New York's coast, stating in a little-noticed filing that rock installation around the project's underwater turbine bases would begin later this month, the first step in erecting 54 wind turbines, Canary Media first reported.

Equinor separately issued an internal construction update, stating that underwater robots and human divers had been deployed to help initiate construction.

Those developments caused some critics of offshore wind to raise the alarm and call on the Trump administration to intervene.