NYC fishermen beg Trump to rethink offshore windfarm OK'd during Biden admin

New York Post

5 days ago

Commercial fishing workers pleaded with President Trump to again maroon a wind project off the Long Island shore – arguing Tuesday the green energy initiative could throw the industry into disarray.
Business and environmental organizations gathered at the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative in the Bronx early Tuesday to emphasize the devastating effects the Empire Wind One project could have on fishermen's jobs and marine life.
The Trump administration temporarily paused the project in April while it was already under construction, launching a review of the permits issued during former President Joe Biden's administration. The stop was lifted a month later.
3 Critics of the project want Trump to intervene again.
Getty Images
But Bonnie Brady, the executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, claimed White House officials don't know how damaging the project is.
'If new information came to him that he was made aware of that made him understand the severity of the situation, I think he's a good American like anyone else that wants to keep this country safe and I think he'd act accordingly,' she told The Post in an interview.
Critics of the project – constructed by Norwegian-based Equinor and meant to power some 500,000 homes — argued offshore wind farms can interfere with navigational radar used by ships and smaller boats that could lead to collisions or hamper water rescue efforts.
Commercial fisheries also catch an assortment of seafood in the area where the wind turbines are going up, advocates said.
Brady and Fulton Fish Market Cooperative CEO Nicole Ackerina said its members would welcome Trump to the area to learn more about the potential pitfalls of Empire Wind One from workers who make up a chunk of his GOP base.
'The reality is that especially seafood and fishing, we're a large population of the Trump-supporters base, especially in New York and New Jersey for him,' Ackerina told The Post.
'So we're kind of of the perspective the only reason why this project is proceeding at this point is probably strictly because of political reasons and political agendas at the city and state level so we'd love the opportunity for him to actually sit down with the people that voted for him and with a industry he claims to align with.'
Equinor has said it is committed working with mariners and fishermen to avoid and minimize any potential effects the project could have, according to its website.
3 Map of Empire Wind Project
boem.gov
The seafood industry generates billions a year across New York and New Jersey and employs more than 140,000 workers in the two states, according to the groups against the project.
'They are the last of the hunters in a sense of harvesting high-protein, unspoiled seafood source,' Brady said. 'Someone is forgetting about them.'
A lawsuit was filed against the Trump administration by various fishing companies and other opponents in June, calling on the president to re-implement the stop work order that was previously put in place by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
An email to the interior Department was not immediately returned Tuesday. The Post has also sought comment from Equinor.
3 The turbines would help power thousands of homes.
Empire Wind
The project is backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams in part because it'll help meet a state law that mandates 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 and the phasing out of fossil fuels by 2050.
Trump has spoken out against wind farms in the past, but Republican mega-donor and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis said the president told him he can't stop it because the approvals were OK'd before he took office.
The project will be built 15-30 miles south of Long Island and made up of 54 wind turbines, according to a project website.