The Trump administration has been working tirelessly to thwart offshore wind development, but a growing number of Republicans are pushing back against its crusade.
A recent poll of 5,760 registered voters across 13 coastal states by the Tarrance Group, a GOP polling firm, revealed that nearly three-quarters (74%) of voters favor the construction of offshore wind projects off the coast of their own state, with majorities favoring in every state surveyed. That’s a 10-point increase from the first poll in January 2025, driven by growing support from Republicans and some Independents. In fact, GOP support for offshore wind has risen 30% since Trump took office, according to Turn Forward, the offshore wind advocacy group that commissioned the poll.
“A reduction in the reach of the administration’s rhetoric against offshore wind from early 2025 (those who have seen, read or heard about the topic is down from June of last year), combined with those ongoing concerns about energy prices, have allowed some voters to come around on offshore wind,” the Tarrance Group stated.
The Trump administration’s anti-wind campaign has faced a series of judicial setbacks, with federal judges repeatedly blocking attempts to halt leasing and permitting and lifting stop-work orders on several projects. Just last week, a federal judge in Massachusetts struck down several actions aimed at obstructing renewable energy development, including a requirement that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum personally approve all new solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters.
This resistance has forced the administration to test new battle strategies. In March, the Department of the Interior agreed to pay TotalEnergies, a French energy company that was developing two wind farms off the coasts of New York State and North Carolina, nearly $1 billion to abandon the projects and invest the funds in oil and gas instead.
The deal signaled that the Trump administration is willing to take more targeted action against offshore wind projects by appealing directly to the companies that own the leases. Still, GOP support for its vendetta has continued to crumble. Some Republican lawmakers in states where offshore wind promises to create jobs and help meet rising energy demands are actively fighting back.
Kiggans was among nine House Republicans who wrote to Burgum and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January demanding an explanation for the administration’s decision to cancel five offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast, including CVOW. All five ultimately had their stop-work orders lifted.
On a broader scale, Republican pushback against the Trump administration’s anti-renewables agenda has grown in tandem with mounting concern about rising energy prices, the Tarrance Group poll shows.
“Fully 95% of voters express concern about electricity and energy prices, with 70% saying they are extremely or very concerned,” the Tarrance Group stated. “This concern transcends party lines. The timing of this research coinciding with the military action in Iran only exacerbates American voters concerns about energy prices.”
But even Republicans who have been most outspoken against the administration’s war on offshore wind have had to toe the party line. Kiggans voted in favor of Republican legislation to gut clean energy tax credits as part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” despite her efforts to safeguard renewable energy development in Virginia.
“I had ONE vote, and I voted YES on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act not because it was perfect but because it delivers permanent tax relief for families & small businesses, rebuilds our Navy & invests in national defense, secures our border, strengthens and preserves Medicaid & SNAP benefits for those who truly need it,” she wrote on Facebook in July.
Republicans are in a tight spot. As the need to grow and diversify America’s power supply becomes increasingly urgent, stamping out the burgeoning renewable energy industry just doesn’t make sense. At the same time, the GOP’s fracturing energy agenda could prove consequential as they attempt to retain control of the House this election year. That remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the Trump administration’s attacks on offshore wind risk deepening divisions within the party.
Source: Gizmodo