U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered a halt to construction of Equinor’s Empire Wind project off the coast of New York, saying information suggested the Biden administration approved it without enough environmental analysis.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Burgum said the information would be reviewed further but did not elaborate on the faults identified.
The sudden order marks a major blow to Norway’s Equinor and the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, which enjoyed substantial support as part of former President Joe Biden’s plan to decarbonise the power grid and combat climate change.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.