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President Donald Trump ordered his administration to lift an April stop work order halting a massive offshore wind farm being constructed off the coast of New York in exchange for the advancement of two natural gas pipeline projects, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum struck the deal over the weekend during a phone call with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D.), a senior White House official told the Free Beacon on Tuesday. Following that call, on Monday, the Interior Department formally removed its order halting foreign energy developer Equinor’s $5 billion Empire Wind project, which is being built about 12 nautical miles south of Long Island, N.Y., and consists of dozens of turbines.
Hochul immediately declared victory—”I fought to save clean energy jobs in New York, and we got it done,” she said—but acknowledged in her statement she had agreed to work with federal and private entities to permit new energy projects that promote reliability and affordability for consumers. “We will be working in earnest to deliver on these objectives,” Hochul continued.