: President Donald Trump’s Department of Interior announced on Monday that, effective immediately, leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects being constructed in the United States will be paused.
In a press release, DOI wrote that the pause is due to ‘national security risks’ identified by the Department of War in ‘recently completed classified reports.’
In a press release, DOI says the pause will ‘give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.’
‘The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,’ Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, said in the press release.
‘Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers. The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people.’
The Department of Interior listed five leases that will be paused: Vineyard Wind1, Revolution Wind, CVOW, Sunrise Wind, and Empire Wind.
The department highlighted unclassified reports from the U.S. government in the past that have ‘long found’ that massive turbine blades in large-scale offshore wind projects can create radar interference called ‘clutter’ that can obscure legitimate moving targets and generate false targets.
In 2024, a Department of Energy report found that while the radar threshold for false alarm detection can be increased to reduce some of that ‘clutter,’ the radar can ‘miss actual targets’ when that threshold is increased.
‘Today’s action ensures that national security risks posed by offshore wind projects are appropriately addressed and that the United States government retains its ability to effectively defend the American people,’ the press release states.