Senate Wind Permit Bill Faces Trump's Permit Revocations — SkimNews
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- The Bipartisan American Affordability Jobs Act, a Senate compromise reached earlier this month, includes "project certainty" provisions designed to deter presidents from revoking energy permits; the bill won't get a vote until after the midterm elections.
- The bill's remedies include court-ordered permit reinstatement and cash payouts of 25–50% of project costs from the Judgment Fund, plus an anti-discrimination clause that could require full construction-cost refunds if disparate treatment is proven against an energy source.
- The Trump administration this week announced it would review permits for three Atlantic Coast offshore wind projects, including the 700-megawatt Revolution Wind that is already complete and delivering power to Rhode Island.
- Critics including former BOEM director Elizabeth Klein and former DOJ attorney Matthew Littleton argue the bill won't deter Trump, noting the administration has already used public money to buy back offshore wind leases in exchange for developer commitments to build fossil fuel projects elsewhere.
- The anti-discrimination clause uses the five-year average pace of project approvals as its baseline, which by the time Trump leaves office would reflect four years of fast oil-and-gas permitting and stalled wind/solar—potentially shielding future administrations from discrimination claims in either direction.
- Major developers Ørsted and Equinor spent billions building Atlantic wind farms under Biden but now view the U.S. as "uninvestable" due to pandemic-era cost overruns and permit attacks, according to the article.
- Senator Sheldon Whitehouse initially said he would not endorse a compromise unless the administration stopped blocking wind farms, but this week described the Revolution Wind move as further reason to pass the bill.
Why it matters: The bill's financial remedies rely on courts enforcing billion-dollar payouts from the Judgment Fund—yet the Trump administration is already spending public money to buy back offshore wind leases in exchange for fossil fuel commitments. Whether it passes could decide whether Northeastern states meet their climate goals, as Ørsted and Equinor now view the U.S. as 'uninvestable.'
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