President Trump Vs Joe Biden's SouthCoast Wind Permit

by Frank Haggerty

Feb 23


Massachusetts 

On December 20, 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Management despite objections from the Town of Nantucket completed their review of the SouthCoast Wind project. The process was flawed. 
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BOEM considers each offshore wind company installation a separate installation. The Vineyard Wind project currently under construction consists of 62 wind turbines.  The SouthCoast Wind project was approved for up to 141 turbines. BOEM does not consider the total of 203 turbines. 
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BOEM failed to address critical deficiencies in the Section 106 process. First, a failure to appropriate a fair mitigation process for the visual effects on the Nantucket Historic Landmark, NHL. Next, an insufficient decommissioning fund to remove the turbines at the end of life. 
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On July 13, 2024, a blade broke off a Vineyard Wind turbine, spewing 50 tons of microplastics, foam, and balsa wood, which is washing up on Nantucket today. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement will not allow any of the 150 blades made in Canada to be used on this project.  
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Since the Vineyard Wind blade failure, the Bureau of Ocean Management failed to address a legitimate safety plan for SouthCoast Wind that could prevent environmental harm. 
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On January 17, 2025, three days before President Trump took office, BOEM and the Biden administration issued the final approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project called the Construction and Operations Plan (COP). 
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There was a rush to dump green energy money and issue permits before the inauguration. A video on social media showed a Biden EPA appointee talking about: "tossing gold bars off the Titanic."   
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A review of the Bureau of Ocean Management permit process is warranted.

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