President Trump does not like windmills. In December, his Department of the Interior issued stop-work orders for five offshore windfarms along the Atlantic coast, putting thousands of workers out of a job just days before Christmas.
Thankfully, a little more than a month later, federal judges ordered all the projects to move forward, putting workers back on the job and keeping the projects on track to power more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.
Right now, families across the country are shouldering the strain of unaffordable energy bills. Offshore wind is a clean, reliable, and ready-to-go solution. These five projects are already creating thousands of local jobs and helping to transition states away from fossil fuels.
This has been an intensely cold winter. Large portions of the country have been blanketed in snow, and thousands of homes have lost power. While fossil fuel power plants struggle to stay on during winter storms, offshore wind is a reliable energy source that helps communities save money and keep the lights on. In fact, offshore wind is strongest in the winter and at night—right when we need it most.
I am calling on President Trump to stop his senseless attacks on offshore wind. Let the workers finish the job.
Stephen Van Domelen
Paso Robles
This article appears in March 12-19, 2026.