Interior Department acting Secretary David Bernhardt said Thursday the agency plans to reverse course and advance a major offshore wind project, using carryover funds for the work.
The announcement comes after Democrats and environmental groups accused the Trump administration of favoring the oil and gas industry during the government shutdown.
Bernhardt, in a Twitter post, said Interior would use money previously appropriated by Congress to reschedule public meetings that had been canceled for a planned project to build an offshore wind farm off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Excited to announce @BOEM_DOI will use carryover funds, previously appropriated by Congress, to reschedule public meetings for the Vineyard Wind offshore renewable project very soon! Stay tuned. #AllofTheAbove #EnergyDominance
— Acting Secretary David Bernhardt (@DOIDepSec) January 24, 2019
The Trump administration has cited the Vineyard Wind project, which could power more than 400,000 homes, and others planned for the Northeast as key evidence that it is not neglecting renewables as part of its “energy dominance” agenda.
It had previously postponed three public hearings for the project.
House Democrats hosted a forum earlier Thursday with environmentalists in which they accused Interior of “sidelining” clean energy development on federal water and lands during the shutdown, while allowing fossil fuel priorities to continue unimpeded and blocking public input in a way that might violate federal law.
