Offshore Wind: GAO Report Reveals the Fallout of Biden’s Green Industrial Gamble
21 hours ago Charles Rotter
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) just issued a comprehensive review of the Department of the Interior’s offshore wind energy program. Titled “Offshore Wind Energy: Actions Needed to Address Gaps in Interior’s Oversight of Development” (GAO-25-106998), the report provides a postmortem of sorts on a policy agenda that—until recently—was speeding ahead under the Biden administration with the vigor of a runaway freight train.
Today, under President Trump’s 2025 executive orders, the brakes have been applied. No new leasing. No new permits. A full federal review is underway. But this report serves as a sobering account of how rapidly U.S. federal agencies pursued offshore wind energy projects with insufficient oversight, unanswered environmental questions, and minimal accountability to affected communities.
From Acceleration to Suspension: What Changed
Until January 20, 2025, the Biden administration had aggressively pushed offshore wind as a climate panacea. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) granted 39 commercial leases, with active construction and permitting underway across the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. By executive memorandum, however, President Trump halted further expansion. Federal agencies are now barred from issuing new leases, permits, or approvals pending a top-to-bottom review of wind leasing and permitting practices.
The Trump administration’s actions may have been prescient. The GAO’s findings paint a picture of regulatory agencies that were never ready for prime time.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/04/16/offshore-wind-gao-report-reveals-the-fallout-of-bidens-green-industrial-gamble/
