New York Governor Kathy Hochul has pledged to fight the federal government’s move to halt construction on Equinor’s 810MW Empire Wind 1 project.
She said: “As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand.
“I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.”
Hochul said that Empire Wind 1 “is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond”.
She also said that the fully federally permitted project had already “put shovels in the ground” before President Donald Trump issued an executive order ordering a halt to all federal permitting for offshore wind.