The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced yesterday it would cancel leases for two offshore wind projects. 

Bluepoint Wind off the coast of New York and Golden State Wind off the coast of California are the latest projects to suffer attacks from the Trump administration. Instead of moving forward with the leases, the DOI said it would offer the developers reimbursements for cancelling the projects.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in the announcement that the new agreements “resolve the unaddressed national security concerns at both projects.” The claim lacks credibility as all offshore wind projects were approved in coordination with the U.S. Department of Defense.

Previously, the Trump administration offered a $1 billion buyout to offshore wind developer Total Energies for its lease, the legality of which remains unresolved. In exchange, Total Energies agreed to no longer pursue offshore wind developments in the United States.

Following the announcement, the BlueGreen Alliance issued a statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh:

“The federal government paying developers not to build clean energy projects while working people face higher and higher utility costs is unconscionable. We are sick of the Trump administration’s baseless claims about offshore wind. They continue to attack an industry that has massive potential to provide clean, affordable energy to the nation’s grid.”