Trump’s decision to rule out energy development along the East Coast will bar not only offshore oil and gas drilling but coastal wind farm development in equal measure.
The article contains no actual information to back up that statement. I have been unable to find the text of the executive order. Every article I’ve found on the order states that it is an extension of the existing moratorium dating back to Bush. So what has changed that causes this to “hit wind farms hard”?
The article seems light on details.
This section made the connection but doesn’t have the actual language of the ban which was extended.
Trump’s decision to rule out energy development along the East Coast will bar not only offshore oil and gas drilling but coastal wind farm development in equal measure.
The Interior Department agency has confirmed the broad reach of Trump’s latest orders and is likely to significantly impact U.S. wind development,
Yeah, “confirming” that something is “likely” doesn’t seem like much of a confirmation.
Perhaps it has to do with there not being much wind development at the time of the original order as to be effected, where as now there is/potentially is.
I’ll keep looking for the order text, old and new.
It’s weak language. The other possibility that occurs to me is how likely the purported ban would survive a legal challenge.
This one from Bloomberg is behind a paywall but the headline says the same thing.
I see this as a step to please the coastal state governors affected and Trump will reverse it should he survive both covid and the election. If the democrats are true to their word, they’ll do the same but only for wind mills. Anyone willing to take a stab at guessing how many thousands of wind mills it would take match the energy production of a single oil rig?
Thanks, finally an article citing the source! Looks like Trump (and Obama) issued a Presidential Memoranda not an Executive Order. The effect is basically the same, just harder to find I guess if you’re searching the wrong term 
And reading that memorandum text reveals the reason this ban hits wind farms where the previous ones did not. It was not simply a continuation, Trump removed the verbiage about oil and gas development. The previous ones specifically banned O&G development, where as Trumps bans development period, which this administrations agencies have apparently determined will cover all energy development even wind. Kind of a shame to put a 10 year ban on thousands of clean energy and innovation (and possibly mariner) jobs.
Not an equivalent comparison. Oil rigs drill wells. Tens to dozens of wells get connected to production platforms. The volume of oil (energy?) extracted depends on the reservoir, number and type of wells, etc. How and where the oil is used is not easily quantifiable.
So how many wind mills does it take to drill an oil well? Zero. But take Georga, covered by the new ban. George has an oil fired cogen power plant and it is 308MW. New wind turbines are rated typically from 2.5-3MW up to maybe 9.5MW. So on the low end, 32 wind mills to replace that plant. More common are natural gas fired plants in the 1000MW range. Many more wind mills. But assuming just 1MWhr generated consumes an estimated 3,400 cubic ft of natural gas, you can see why one is considered sustainable green energy and the other requires endless drilling.
“Once complete, Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind is projected to have a generation capacity of up to 2,500 megawatts, or enough to power about 700,000 homes.”
For reference, if the numbers are accurate, the field could power nearly a quarter of the state of NC.
The windmills used offshore is steadily increasing in capacity. The newer ones are >12 mW, while even larger are under development.
From this website:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
OK since one is quoted in mW capacity per windmill and the other is in kWhr. consumption per household per year, the figures are not directly comparable, but calculatable.
When you know the number of wind turbines installed, the transmission loss and the average consumption per household in the area of consumption, the number of households that can be supplied can be calculated:
Suffice to say is that the wind farm planned off Maryland and New Jersey will have 12 mW wind turbines. (If they are not stopped by political BS):
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