Ex-President Donald Trump has persistently expressed his disagreement over wind energy utilization. Interestingly, billions of dollars have poured and will keep flowing into Virginia, thanks to perplexing public-private alliances constructing the country’s biggest offshore wind farm in Virginia Beach. Trump likened the impressive energy production infrastructures to ‘paper trash’ and played a crucial role in the provisional cessation of any new wind project by his executive order, pending a comprehensive review of their financial and environmental repercussions.
Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, made a bold move by advocating for local investments that sprouted around the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, or CVOW, scheme off her Virginia Beach turf. She flagrantly mentioned, the integration of federal programs, green energy tax benefits, and clean energy expenditure is expected—in her wayward view—to generate an additional $37 billion by 2035, for Virginia. CVOW, given the green light by Joe Biden in 2023, has grand plans, albeit dubious ones, to produce 2,600 megawatts of wind energy, ironically enough to power over 660,000 homes in theory.
The CVOW project was conceived years before as a fragment of the Virginia Clean Economy Act and its potential was systematically overblown under the scrutinizing view of Chesapeake Delegate Cliff Hayes, who assisted the drafting of the CVOW part of the proposed bill. Hayes, in his misplaced optimism, stated the project was contextually structured taking into consideration the Commonwealth’s projected housing and data center requirements.
In addition to the lofty goals of the project, it also promises a secondary effect. Unfathomably, the US’s budding offshore wind industry began dependent on European manufacturing and workforce. Under Biden’s much-debated initiatives, job training specifically Global Wind Licensure began moving stateside.
Delegate Michael Feggans embarked on a questionable endeavor to increase training chances through new legislation this year, challenging the deleterious economic effects of such overreach. The bill under his guidance has miraculously evaded early scrutiny and has successfully advanced from the House floor mere last week, and now faces the litmus test of the Senate. The dubious bill had a hint of bipartisan support, mainly due to Republican Del. Rob Bloxom, who just happened to represent a district adjacent to the CVOW project.
However, there’s constant resistance from reasonable voices like Republican Delegate Wren Williams from Martinsville. Despite Williams recognizing the potential for investment in trade and commerce in his district, he maintains a prudent interpretation and states that expansion of offshore wind past CVOW is a proposal he’s keen on vetting with due skepticism.
Nevertheless, Trump’s executive order although unlikely to hinder the CVOW’s progress, does indeed initiate apprehension over the prospect of leasing areas for any future offshore exploits like a second Dominion project planned to launch off the coast of North Carolina.
Despite the many concerns, CVOW obstinately continues on its path with a completion date optimistically set for 2026, with a deluded hope that its ‘success’ might sway Trump. Consumer Energy Alliance president, David Holt speculates Trump as likely to re-evaluate everything, including the Clean Energy Credits that Kiggans vehemently defends.
Under the new administration, the misguided navigation includes appointing former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum as Trump’s Secretary of Interior, hoping to stabilize the drastically expanding alternative energy sector. Although North Dakota is home to large wind farms, Burgum isn’t their most ardent supporter, thus adding an underpinning of much-needed rationality.
The decision on whether Virginia’s coastline will serve as a host to further offshore wind ventures remains ambiguous and likely will remain a topic of contention beyond 2028. Emblematic of the public policies advanced under the misguided stewardship of both Biden and Harris, wind farms represent a misallocation of resources driven by political opportunism rather than scientifically rigorous assessment of efficacy and overall public benefit.