Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) says that he has helped prepare an executive order for incoming President Donald Trump that would halt all offshore wind projects from Rhode Island to Virginia for six months. The document is currently being reviewed by lawyers for Trump Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum, former governor of North Dakota.
The federal permits to move ahead with the offshore wind projects should have been as rigorous as the process for oil and gas drilling projects, Van Drew said, but they were “pushed through too quickly.”
The six-month moratorium would allow the incoming administration to review environmental impacts, potential harm to commercial fishing, burdens on ratepayers and possible threats to national security, the congressman said.
Van Drew has been an opponent of offshore wind power from the start, seeing it as a threat to the tourist-based economy of New Jersey’s coastal region. He said the draft executive order would prevent offshore wind projects “from wreaking havoc on the hardworking people who call our coastal towns home.”
He also made clear his opposition to oil and gas drilling off the New Jersey coast, adding that despite the president-elect’s support for such drilling, New Jersey’s ocean waters are of less interest to Trump than they once were.
“The reserves are just not here,” Van Drew said. He promised to oppose any offshore drilling as a potential detriment to the economy and environment of the Garden State.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
