'I hate wind': Donald Trump doubles down on opposition as wind energy advances in Maryland

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump continued to rail against offshore wind at a fundraiser with oil industry leaders recently in Florida, continuing his obsession with windmills amid its continued development on the Eastern Shore.

In a speech to oil industry bosses, the former president went as far as to say "I hate wind," and said he would work on bolstering the oil industry's agenda "on day one" of his presidency if he wins the November election. This continues his attacks on "green" energy development with rhetoric that includes denying that climate change exists.

As far back as 2012, Trump has called the impacts of climate change on the United States a "hoax" and made unproven claims the "noise from the turbines cause cancer." To date, no proof has been offered by Trump or his campaign of any data corroborating those assertions.

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Trump also cited power outages across the country as signs that wind energy was unreliable.

His obsession with wind energy also has ties to his golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, where he lost a legal battle to block a wind energy project. In 2019, he was ordered to pay the legal fees in his losing effort to block the offshore wind farm in sight of the course.

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Currently, the embattled presidential candidate is on trial in New York City, where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly disguising reimbursements for a payment silencing a porn star as legal expenses. Further complicating his presidential bid is that each of the 34 counts in which he has been charged carries a maximum of four years in prison, although the judge could sentence him to a sentence as light as probation if convicted.

These legal troubles add to past civil court judgments ordering him to pay a total estimated $454 million. A recent ruling on March 25 temporarily stopped the collection that threatened seizing of his assets. New York Judge Arthur Engoron approved a new agreement between Trump's lawyers and state Attorney General Letitia James to reinforce the $175 million bond he posted to appeal that $454 million judgment in a civil fraud trial for inflating the value of his real estate empire in statements to lenders.

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Offshore wind and the Eastern Shore

Independent energy data in some of the nation's most impacted regions also corrected that claim, citing traditional sources of energy such as natural gas, coal and nuclear energy systems were responsible for nearly twice as many outages.

Offshore wind continues to be a contentious topic on the Eastern Shore, with opponents saying construction inflation cost issues, environmental impacts and loss of precious views make it a losing proposition.

While Ørsted declined to comment on Trump's recent offshore wind energy statements, the company has already noted past decisions to pull out of projects like the development in New Jersey does not mean halting projects in places including Maryland.

In January, Ørsted announced it will reposition Skipjack Wind, a combined 966-megawatt project in development off the coast of the Delmarva peninsula, "for future offtake opportunities." Following consultation with the state of Maryland, Ørsted has withdrawn from the Maryland Public Service Commission Orders approving the Skipjack 1 and 2 projects.

This followed the company, earlier in the year, pulling out of a billion-dollar offshore wind development in New Jersey, citing ongoing inflation and construction issues.

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The company noted it intends to continue advancing development and permitting for the combined project, including submission of its updated Construction and Operations Plan to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

US Wind continues to pave the way for offshore wind development off Ocean City, and now a federal application has been filed by the company to develop a new industrial pier.

According to official filings, it would be located on the west side of the resort town and would include a concrete-decked design of 174 feet. The space will allow for other infrastructure like industrial cranes to be used and will include wave screens to better protect the development.

MARWIN I and Momentum Wind by US Wind represent a projected 77 turbines to be located off the coast of Maryland and Delaware that are expected to turn out 1,864.5 MW of power for the state. That is enough to power 285,000 Maryland homes.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Donald Trump doubles down on his opposition to offshore wind energy