Among President Trump’s targets are wind-energy projects, judges disagree

President Trump is trying to kill wind energy projects, but building trades unions are stepping up efforts to salvage the construction projects – some of which are nearing completion.

Thousands of jobs are at stake.

And time is of the essence.

Specific projects the Trump regime is attacking, under the guise of “national security” issues, are on the East Coast, but the attempt to destroy the work sets a dangerous precedent for any construction using federal funds. The administration action also is illogical. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that there is capacity in that region to build 264 gigawatts of offshore wind that could produce about one quarter of the country’s yearly electricity consumption by 2030.

Labor’s response has been powerful:

* The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) has called the order “a direct attack on American workers. Offshore wind projects represent thousands of good, union jobs for IBEW members who have spent years training to build and maintain this infrastructure.” https://ibew.org/press-release/ibew-statement-opposing-trump-administrations-attack-on-offshore-wind-energy-affordability-and-jobs/

* North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) in Washington, D.C., said the move “kills thousands of good-paying jobs on projects that were legally permitted, fully vetted, fully funded, and already underway. These aren’t hypothetical jobs. They are real paychecks and billions in investment.” https://nabtu.org/press_releases/nabtu-condemns-trump-shutting-down-u-s-offshore-wind/

* And the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) highlighted the disruptive nature of these stop-work orders, saying, “LIUNA members plan their life around this work. Pulling the plug now — during the holidays and after years of negotiations and extensive reviews — is reckless and unfair to the men and women who build this country.” They demanded that the administration “let us work — and stop playing politics with our jobs.” https://www.liuna.org/news/story/liuna-general-president-brent-booker-responds-to-christmas-project--shutdown

 

The rank and file knows the stakes.

Chad Ward, an Ironworkers Local 7 member who commutes from his home in Maine to work on offshore wind turbines in coastal Virginia, told the Maine AFL-CIO, “A job in the offshore wind industry in Maine would mean I could see my kids grow up, and my kids could have the option of going into an industry that keeps them employed in Maine while also helping to do something good for the environment.”

Organized labor’s unified response is contributing to already-high friction between the building trades and the Trump administration.

It’s about time.

 

UPDATE:

The Building Trades praise court ruling

restarting offshore wind projects

Last week, three federal judges ruled that offshore wind projects off the coasts of New England, New York and Virginia can continue construction, and the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) applauded the decisions, which will allow union members to return to work.

Trump’s Interior Department sought to disrupt these critical East Coast energy infrastructure projects in December, issuing stop-work orders based on undisclosed national security concerns. This ruling clears the way for progress to continue on Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, Ørsted’s Revolution Wind, and Equinor’s Empire Wind projects.

“With energy demand surging and prices spiking, the last thing our government should do is take any form of power generation offline,” said NABTU President Sean McGarvey. “The men and women of NABTU are proud to be constructing every offshore wind project in the United States, all under strong project labor agreements. These rulings mean our members can get back to work and keep affordable, clean, reliable power moving to our communities.”