US blocks all offshore wind construction, says reason is classified

Stated vs Suspected Motives

• Official rationale is “classified national security,” widely viewed in the thread as a pretext.
• Many argue the real drivers are:
  • Fossil fuel interests and petrodollar politics.
  • Personal vendetta against wind after the Scottish golf-course turbine fight.
  • Payback for foreign or domestic political slights (e.g., Denmark/Greenland, Denmark’s wind companies).
• Some see it as part of a broader pattern: cancelling solar, EV incentives, agency cuts, and pro‑coal interventions to systematically kill renewables.

National Security, Radar, and Drones

• Commenters acknowledge real technical issues:
  • Offshore turbines create radar clutter, complicate low‑altitude surveillance, and may hinder sub detection or sonar.
  • Wind farms could offer cover for ship‑launched drones or complicate tracking near coasts.
• Counterpoints:
  • These issues have been known for decades and engineered around in the UK, Germany, Denmark, China, etc.
  • Defense agencies already sit in permitting; if it were purely radar, it should have surfaced early, not mid‑construction.
  • Sweden’s more limited blocks are cited as not comparable to a blanket US halt.

Economics and Alternatives

• Some say offshore wind is subsidy‑dependent “rent seeking” compared to onshore wind or solar.
• Others note offshore’s higher capacity factors and argue it’s economically strong if allowed to scale.
• Broader debate spins into nuclear vs renewables, storage costs, grid stability, and regulatory burden, with no consensus.

Governance, Legitimacy, and Precedent

• Multiple comments frame this as another example of:
  • Executive overreach under a “national security” umbrella.
  • A rule‑of‑law breakdown where federal orders of dubious legality are still obeyed.
• Concern that such arbitrary reversals will chill large‑scale infrastructure investment generally.