Backed by the law and voters, the offshore wind industry must go on offense to secure its future

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From day one of Donald Trump's second term, his administration has waged a relentless campaign to kill the offshore wind industry.

The administration's anti-offshore wind playbook has included a permitting freeze, construction stop work-orders, bureaucratic obstacles, and, most recently, lease buy-backs.

Most of these measures have been rebuffed by federal courts. The day one executive order freezing offshore wind permitting was thrown out. Judges overturned all the stop-work orders to halt construction of five East Coast offshore wind projects.

The lease buy-backs – agreements under which the federal government reimburses developers' bids to secure leases in return for their pledges to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure and exit offshore wind development in the U.S. – have yet to be tested in court.

But in pursuing a buy-back with a developer holding a lease for an area offshore California, the Trump administration set in motion a showdown with the state, including Attorney General Rob Bonta (D).

On May 4, the California Energy Commission issued an administrative investigative subpoena to Golden State Wind LLC, which had held a lease to deploy floating wind turbines in a zone offshore California's Central Coast, “seeking documents and information related to the company’s recent agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior to accept a payout in exchange for voluntarily abandoning its offshore wind lease.” 

The threat to the industry posed by the Golden State Wind lease buy-back agreement loomed over last week's Pacific Offshore Wind Summit in Long Beach, California. The deal dominated my informal, off-the-record conversations with attendees during the summit.

The deal is likewise top of mind for the head of the industry's California trade organization.

“These latest attempts to obstruct offshore wind are almost certainly unlawful and will likely be overturned either by the courts, Congress, or the next federal administration. The lease buy-back agreements also represent an unprecedented abuse of taxpayer dollars,” Offshore Wind California Executive Director Adam Stern said in opening remarks at the summit.

Offshore Wind California, he added, “fully supports the investigation California has launched into the Trump administration's lease buy-back agreements that attempt to delay much needed U.S. offshore wind power.”

That the summit would be held at all this year was not a given.

The American Clean Power Association, after all, cancelled its annual offshore wind conference last year. But for Offshore Wind California, and its members, convening the summit sent the message that the industry is determined to stay the course.

Throughout the two days of the summit, speakers affirmed that message and urged the industry to go on offense, supported by the knowledge that the law and public opinion was on its side.

Most voters – including Republicans – support offshore wind

For example, according to recent polling, voters across the ideological spectrum increasingly support offshore wind.

At the summit, Erin McLean, the communications director for Turn Forward, an independent nonprofit working to advance the U.S. offshore wind industry, presented new data on California voters' support for offshore wind development.

“Seventy-six percent of California voters favor offshore wind construction off their state's coast – a 12-point gain over 14 months, during a period in which the industry faced significant attacks from the executive branch,” according to a Turn Forward brief on the new poll.

The public opinion survey was prepared for Turn Forward by The Tarrance Group, a Republican strategic research and polling firm.

It turns out that Republican voters don't share Donald Trump's antipathy for offshore wind power. In fact, the most remarkable finding in McLean's presentation was the shift in support among Republicans for offshore wind, even as the Trump administration escalated its attacks against the industry.

Republicans support for offshore wind in California has increased from 41% in January 2025 to 69% in March 2026.

And more voters, including Republicans, say they are more likely to vote for a pro-offshore wind candidate.

At a time when energy affordability is among voters' top concerns, the offshore wind industry should be able to sell its potential to lower costs for households and businesses.

“Voters recognize offshore wind as a way to deliver affordable energy, with 47% citing lower energy prices as one of offshore wind’s biggest benefits. They also aren’t buying attacks on offshore wind, with 64% rejecting the claim that offshore wind would drive up energy prices,” said Turn Forward in a press release.

Go on offense

Another clear message from the summit: the courts, permitting reform, and political power are critical to the industry's future.

Being willing to go to court to defend your interests is the mark of a mature industry, Josh Kaplowitz, an attorney with Troutman Pepper Locke based in Washington, D.C., argued during a summit panel focused on lessons learned from the legal battles the industry waged to protect the U.S. East Coast offshore wind projects during 2025.

He noted that fossil fuel companies don't hesitate to go to court to protect their interests.

The U.S. offshore wind industry will have six gigawatts of capacity online by the end of next year. The industry would not have hit that milestone without lawsuits, said Kaplowitz.

Winning lawsuits, he added, helps to reassure investors and restore investor confidence.

Brian Krevor, senior director, offshore permitting and environmental policy, American Clean Power Association, argued that the industry needs to pursue aggressive permitting reform.

More U.S. offshore wind projects would already be in the water, he said, if the permitting process had been faster.

There are ways to accelerate permitting under existing laws, he added, but even more critical is permitting reform that makes permits durable, and not susceptible to political interference once issued.

Jim Lanard, CEO of Magellan Wind, said the industry needs to "go from CPR to bypass surgery” to set up its next phase of growth beginning in January 2029, when a new presidential administration takes office.

European investors and developers won't recommit to the U.S. offshore wind market, he argued, until the bypass surgery occurs. Leasing, financing, and permitting reform all must be on the agenda in the runup to 2029 and beyond.

To that end, he said, he was working to build a political network comprising labor, banks, tribes, developers, investors, and other stakeholders to determine what should be on the 2029 reform agenda for the industry.