Posted on July 28, 2025
The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are attacking the entire wind power industry and throwing into question more than 17,000 offshore jobs and likely thousands more onshore.
Introduction and summary
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that paused all federal wind permits. While the order states that the pause is temporary, it remains in place today, and the administration has provided no timeline for lifting it.1 Fast forward six months, and the wind energy industry is in an even more precarious situation. The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) ends tax credits for wind and solar energy unless projects start construction within 12 months of the bill’s enactment.2 An associated executive order3 could make it harder to qualify for this safe harbor, even as the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) adds to the permitting process with additional layers of high-level review for many wind and solar projects.4 Together, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are squeezing wind power from both sides: With the temporary block on permitting progress still in place, many projects will not be able to start construction, leaving them unable to meet new deadlines for tax credits they may have been counting on.
These actions will have a direct effect on jobs. According to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress, more than 17,000 jobs are connected to offshore wind power projects that are already canceled, on hold, or at risk from the Trump administration’s attacks on wind power. A subset of these projects are also at risk of losing funding because of the OBBBA. Thousands more could be at risk in the onshore wind industry.
Even before the early termination of the tax credits, projects were already feeling the effects of the temporary ban. In early June, developers canceled the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project planned for the coast of New Jersey,5 saying that the executive order temporarily blocking wind permits made it infeasible to continue pursuing the project. It was expected to power 700,000 homes6 and create more than 2,000 new jobs.7 These attacks on wind power from the administration and Congress are costing Americans jobs and hurting local economies. And while Trump and Congress kneecap the wind energy sector, the oil and gas sector benefits from the hurdles imposed on a competing energy industry.
Attacks on the wind power industry endanger tens of thousands of jobs
As of 2023, 131,0008 people in the United States were working in wind power generation. Twelve percent of those workers are part of a union or a bargaining or labor agreement, which is more than the 11 percent in the energy workforce overall and the 7 percent in the natural gas and petroleum fuels workforces.9 Onshore wind power jobs grew 4.6 percent from 2022 to 2023,10 and the industry is fueling the single-fastest job growth category11 in the United States: wind turbine service technicians. The Trump administration’s actions and the OBBBA threaten the growth of the wind energy sector, jeopardizing quality union jobs that can pay better12 and offer additional benefits,13 such as health insurance through their employer.
Despite the strength and promise of the wind power sector when Trump took office, the Trump administration and Congress keep making it harder to build wind power projects. In January, the administration issued an executive order14 blocking all federal approvals for wind power projects—including permits, loans, and rights of way—until an assessment of federal permitting processes has been conducted. However, the administration has not set a timeline for completing this assessment.15 The order also temporarily banned leasing for offshore wind projects in federal waters and froze an onshore wind project that had already received its federal permits. Seventeen states have sued, but the executive order temporarily blocking wind permitting progress remains in place.16 Wind power projects must obtain federal permits if they overlap with any federal jurisdiction. For example, a project that intersects a flight path requires a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration,17 and a project built on public lands or waters requires a permit from the DOI.18 Currently, every offshore wind project considered in this analysis requires federal permits.19 The CEO of the American Clean Power Association, a major clean energy trade group, estimates that more than 50 percent20 of wind projects—including those on private lands—could be affected by this temporary ban because they still require federal permits.
Congressional Republicans have doubled down on these attacks by passing a budget plan that strips clean energy tax credits,21 making it significantly harder to finance renewable projects, including wind power projects. It is estimated that the repeal of these incentives in the OBBBA will stunt the growth of clean energy installations by 41 percent over the next decade.22 A “safe harbor” provision allows projects to still receive credits if they begin construction in the next 12 months, but an executive order issued in July 202523 may make it more difficult to qualify. Together, these actions provide a one-two punch against wind energy: Projects need to start construction as soon as possible to retain critical tax credits, but the administration’s pause on permits may prevent them from doing so. On top of this, a new DOI directive hit an even broader swath of projects with bureaucratic review by requiring high-level approval for decisions regarding wind and solar projects, potentially including those on private and state lands.24 Ultimately, if these projects go under, it will mean lost jobs and higher household energy costs25—all to provide tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.26
The Trump administration is blocking wind power projects that would create tens of thousands of jobs
According to a new CAP analysis, more than 17,000 jobs in the offshore wind industry are tied to about a dozen projects that have been paused or are at risk of being paused due to the Trump administration’s executive orders attacking wind power. These projects are connected to more than 12,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs, and more than 75 percent of these jobs combined are connected to projects that have all their federal permits or are under construction. In the offshore wind sector alone, more than 10,000 union jobs are at risk because of the Trump administration’s attacks.27 In this report, a direct job is defined as one related to the installation or operation of wind energy technology, and an indirect job is defined as one related to supply chain requirements. Many of those jobs, whether part of the supply chain or working on a project itself, will not materialize unless the temporary ban is lifted and may never materialize if the temporary ban lasts too long or if the project loses eligibility for tax credits.
CAP estimates that close to 25,000 additional direct and indirect jobs in the onshore wind industry are also associated with projects either under development or construction, although not all of those projects require federal permits. On federal lands specifically, four wind power projects are in the permitting pipeline and are now in limbo.28 According to CAP analysis, these projects are associated with more than 1,900 direct and indirect jobs.
TABLE 1
Thousands of offshore wind jobs are projected to be created as a result of planned projects
Number of jobs connected to offshore wind projects that are currently under development
TABLE 2
Thousands of onshore wind jobs are projected to be created as a result of planned projects
Number of direct and indirect jobs connected to onshore wind projects that are currently under development
Permitting and funding hurdles jeopardize jobs and investments
The Trump administration has weaponized permitting to stop wind power
On Monday, July 7, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would make a major offshore wind project, U.S. Wind, redo part of the permitting process because of a procedural issue.32 This puts the project’s construction start date, tax credits, and more than 2,500 annual development and construction jobs on the line.33 A few months earlier, Empire Wind, a fully permitted wind project that, when completed, will power 500,000 New York homes and will create more than 400 jobs,34 was abruptly issued a stop-work order after construction was underway.35 Its developer, Equinor, paid $50 million per week to keep the project paused and was on the brink of dropping the project altogether when36 the Trump administration finally lifted the stop order,37 though it came at a cost. The chief executive of Equinor alleged that the block was rescinded in part because of the reopening of negotiations over a previously canceled natural gas pipeline in New York, but Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has denied these claims.38
These recent actions suggest that no wind power project—even those with all federal permits approved and under construction—is safe from being halted without warning. For projects earlier in the process, these actions may make it even harder to meet new deadlines to start construction so they qualify for tax credits.
To understand the loss that the temporary wind power permitting ban and elimination of tax credits could cause, consider the United States’ first commercial-scale offshore wind project, South Fork Wind. Even though the South Fork Wind project is small compared with other projects, with just 12 turbines,39 it still took close to 1,000 people40 working across multiple states to bring the project to life, with union labor41 serving a key role in getting the project up and running. Each of the 15 major offshore wind projects42 in the pipeline plans to have five to 14 times43 the number of turbines as South Fork Wind and would likely involve even more workers. Each of those 15 projects also requires federal permits,44 and the actions of the Trump administration, as well as the OBBBA, have imperiled the future of this entire industry.
Blocking the wind industry endangers future job growth and economic benefits
Projections indicate that the offshore wind industry would have between 15,000 and 58,000 direct and indirect jobs overall45 from 2024 to 2030 if the industry built the more than 2,000 turbines it would take for the country to reach 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.46 But the Trump administration’s temporary ban on wind energy permitting combined with congressional Republicans’ cuts to tax credits put the industry’s future at risk.
Those potential jobs include indirect jobs, which are created in the production of parts or materials for turbine components, as well as ports, ships, and supporting infrastructure for offshore wind. Part of this supply chain is evident in Houma, Louisiana, where 600 people worked47 to build a single ship needed to construct offshore wind projects. Wind projects can also produce significant “induced” jobs in other sectors where a project is constructed.48 For example, the addition of wind energy jobs can lead to increased demand for hospitality and other service jobs in the local community. These jobs were not evaluated in this analysis because they are difficult to verify and there is insufficient research to make an informed estimate for the industry as a whole. However, as an example, the developer of the onshore wind project Salmon Falls Wind estimates that the project would generate 536 induced jobs.49
More than 17,000 jobs are connected to offshore wind power projects that are already canceled, on hold, or at risk from Trump’s attack on wind power. Thousands more could be at risk in the onshore wind industry.
Oil and gas companies benefit from attacks on wind power
The Trump administration’s blocking of federal approvals for wind power and cutting of renewable energy tax credits is beneficial for oil and gas companies. Wind energy competes with fossil fuels—particularly natural gas—to produce electricity and is often more economical.50 Undermining wind energy reduces energy market competition and supports higher demand for oil and gas, helping the industry maintain its hold on the energy market and allowing oil and gas executives to profit. While actively hindering the development of the wind energy industry, the Trump administration is also elevating the oil and gas industry through favorable policies. In January, the administration issued the executive order “Unleashing American Energy,”51 which removes guardrails from the oil and gas industry, even though the United States is already the world’s largest gasoline and natural gas exporter.52 Then, oil and gas got billions of more dollars in handouts in the OBBBA.53
Despite the scales being tipped in favor of the oil and gas industry, oil and gas jobs in the United States are decreasing.54 Even as domestic oil and gas production levels reached their highest levels ever in 2024,55 employment in oil and gas production is down nearly 20 percent56 from five years ago, and fossil fuel companies employ approximately 25 percent fewer workers57 than they did a decade ago. One reason is that new technology58 allows for remote operations and oversight, leading to fewer people on-site.59 From 2022 to 2023,60 jobs in petroleum and natural gas grew at less than half the rate of wind energy over the same period. Furthermore, oil and gas companies have made it clear that prices would need to increase before they consider more production or drilling.61 Given this information, oil and gas job growth is unlikely to compensate for the jobs that could be lost in the wind energy industry due to the attacks from the Trump administration and congressional Republicans’ OBBBA.
Conclusion
Thousands of jobs in offshore and onshore wind power are at risk because the Trump administration is temporarily blocking wind energy permitting while congressional Republicans cancel tax credits. The longer the temporary ban on wind energy lasts, the longer communities will have to wait for the benefits—if they come at all. As delays increase and tax credits phase out, projects are at a growing risk of being canceled, which means the loss of the money and jobs tied to them. The oil and gas industry stands to benefit, while communities across the country suffer the consequences.
Methodology
Number of projects
The number (15) of major offshore wind projects includes projects that are under construction, fully permitted at the federal level, or in the federal permitting pipeline. Multiple phases of projects that were covered in the same project proposal were counted as one project. For example, Vineyard Wind 1 and Vineyard Wind 2 were considered two projects, but Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2 were considered one project. The length of the development phase for Vineyard Wind 2 was assumed to be seven years, the same as the longest development phase of any of the other projects included in the analysis.
Number of turbines per project
The number of turbines per project is based on construction and operations plan (COP) approvals when available and COPs when they are not yet approved. The three projects that do not have a COP were not included. When projects with multiple phases were approved under one COP, such as Atlantic Shores South, the phases were considered separately.
Offshore wind jobs table
Offshore wind projects that have begun the federal permitting process, have acquired all the required federal permits, or have begun construction are included. The projects listed below were considered for the total jobs number. Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 as well as Skipjack 1 and Skipjack 2 were not included in the analysis because they are not currently being developed. The vast majority of the job numbers were obtained from the COP submitted to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for each project, and all sources referenced, including the COPs, are listed in the source document for the table. When a range was given, the lower end of the range was used. When job years were given instead of jobs, the number of jobs was calculated by dividing the number of job years by the number of years for the given phase of the project and rounding down, providing a minimum number of jobs associated with the job years number that was provided. Projects were considered fully permitted federally if they had a COP approval.
- Under construction
- Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind
- Revolution Wind
- Sunrise Wind
- Vineyard Wind 1
- Empire Wind 1
- Federally fully permitted
- Maryland Offshore Wind
- SouthCoast Wind
- Atlantic Shores South
- New England Wind 1 & 2
- Empire Wind 2
- Federal permitting pipeline
- Beacon Wind
- Vineyard Wind 2
- Excelsior Wind
- Attentive Energy 1 & 2
- Leading Light Wind
Onshore wind jobs table
Data for projects on federal lands, specifically regarding jobs, were obtained from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), when available, and from project websites when the information was unavailable from BLM. Data for other projects, specifically project phase and megawatts, were obtained from the American Clean Power Association’s (ACP) proprietary database. Job numbers for the projects from ACP were estimated using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s conversion62 for the number of jobs per megawatt of wind power, which can be found under the “wind job multipliers” dropdown.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Kendra Hughes, Jenny Rowland-Shea, Mike Williams, Nicole Gentile, Trevor Higgins, Dylan Nezaj, Shannon Baker-Branstetter, Lucero Marquez, Courtney Federico, Drew McConville, Mona Alsaidi, Anh Nguyen, Carl Chancellor, and Christian Rodriguez for their contributions.
