Donald Trump Is Trying To Use Your Taxes To Pay Companies Not To Develop Offshore Wind, But Humboldt Continues To Plan For A Sane Future

When he isn’t storming angrily out of meetings or falling asleep in them, President Trump continues to focus on the number one issue affecting Americans—stopping offshore wind projects from producing renewable energy. In my last blog post on offshore wind, I covered how a federal Judge had blocked many of President Trump’s previous illegal attempts to stymie the industry. Basically, the Trump Administration is always looking for a shortcut to kill these projects when the Administrative Procedures Act requires the Federal Government to follow a fair process before taking such a drastic action. This process exists to protect both the environment and the interests of private companies that do business with the federal government. The Framers didn’t want a tyrannical king who could make and break deals on a whim after all. Even some oil companies are nervous about Trump’s war on wind because of the precedent it could set for a future President to attack their industry. 

Well, being the persistent offshore wind NIMBY that he is, President Trump wasn’t going to let something unimportant like the law stop him from waging war against offshore wind. His latest tactic is particularly devious. In order to develop offshore wind in federal waters, offshore wind companies had to lease the right to do some from the federal government. Those leases could cost anywhere from $100 million to almost $1billion depending on the location and size of the lease area. President Trump’s new idea is to use your taxes to give the companies their money back. Instead of developing renewable energy, the companies would also promise never to invest in offshore wind again and to invest in fossil fuels instead. President Trump is using the Judgement Fund for this deal, the same pot of money he wants to use to give $1.776 Billion to January 6th rioters, his political allies, and other convicted fraudsters. 

TotalEnergies has agreed to abandon its previously secured offshore wind leases off the coasts of New Jersey and North Carolina in exchange for roughly $1 billion—the equivalent of what TotalEnergies paid for the leases in 2022. Then Golden State Wind announced that it had agreed to abandon its lease off the coast of Morro Bay in California for $120 million. Not only would this deal threaten California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, it also represents a loss of direct investment in the State of California and local communities on the Central Coast.Golden State Wind’s lease included bid credit commitments of more than $24 million for workforce training and supply chain and $6 million in Lease Use Area Community Benefits Agreements. Reporting has indicated that other California leaseholders are considering taking a similar deal.

Like so much else the Trump Administration does, these deals are illegal. Congressman Huffman and Congressman Raskin have opened an investigation into TotalEnergies. Ranking Member Whitehouse also warned of possible violations of the Antideficiency Act, which “prohibits federal agencies from obligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation. On June 2nd, 2026, New York and other States filed a lawsuit against the TotalEnergies deal alleging that the deal did not comply with the Administrative Procedures Act or the Judgement Fund Act. The California Energy Commission & the California Attorney General’s Office have likewise opened an investigation into the legality of the deal and have subpoenaed Golden State Wind in anticipation of litigation. There are also other potential legal liabilities such as penalties under the False Claims Act for falsely stating that litigation was imminent when it was not in order to access federal Judgment Funds.

These deals put into stark relief the energy choices our nation is facing. Every newly constructed fossil fuel power plant or liquified natural gas export terminal locks the globe into decades of dirty air and additional greenhouse gas emissions. For the President to sabotage renewable energy projects that are already in development in favor of fossil fuels is climate arson of the worst kind. With increasing demand for electricity stemming from the adoption of electric vehicles, electric home heating systems, and new data centers to fuel AI, we need non-carbon sources of electricity now more than ever. And offshore wind is uniquely suited to help meet that demand because it generates electricity at night and in the winter when solar panels don’t perform as well.

Polling consistently finds that voters support the offshore wind industry. Recent polling has even found that support has grown significantly among Republican voters in the last year. These attacks on offshore wind are truly one man’s lonely crusade. That is why many offshore wind experts believe that the industry will survive this onslaught and restart development after President Trump’s time in office ends. 

For folks wanting to learn more about what Humboldt is doing to plan for future offshore wind development. The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District will be hosting an informational meeting on June 24th regarding the proposed heavy lift marine terminal from 5:30-7:30 at the  Arcata Community Center.