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A wind turbine off Block Island, Rhode Island. <\/span>Julia Nikhinson\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n This story was originally published by\u00a0the <\/em>Guardian<\/a> and is reproduced here as part of the\u00a0<\/em>Climate Desk<\/a>\u00a0collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>has said it is immediately pausing all leases for offshore wind farms already under construction, in the heaviest blow yet to an industry that the administration has relentlessly targeted throughout the year.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s Department of the Interior said that it was halting the building of five wind projects due to \u201cnational security risks\u201d. The department said it would work with the US Department of Defense to mitigate the risk of the wind turbine towers creating radar interference called \u201cclutter\u201d that could, in some way, hamper the US military.<\/p>\n \u201cThe prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,\u201d said Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior. \u201cToday\u2019s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.\u201d<\/p>\n The halt will affect the Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts, Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind in New York, Revolution Wind off Rhode Island, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind in Virginia.<\/p>\n All of the projects were reviewed and approved under Joe Biden\u2019s administration, which found there were no undue national security concerns raised by the developments. Democrats have\u00a0pointed<\/a>\u00a0to two assessments by the Pentagon of Revolution Wind that found the project \u201cwould not have adverse impacts to DoD missions in the area\u201d.<\/p>\n Wind developers and regional grid operators have warned that Trump\u2019s attack on offshore wind will cost billions of dollars in investment, thousands of jobs, and a new supply of clean electricity that will help prop up grids facing heightened new power demand from the rapid advance of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n