BY FRANK DALENE
In a recent article, I wrote about China’s emergence as a leader in energy independence, thanks to the country’s focus on and investment in renewable energy. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, “China added 6.6 gigawatts of new offshore wind capacity in 2025,” and the country’s “total offshore wind capacity stood at 48.4 gigawatts by the end of 2025.”[1]
Indeed, the GWEC reports, China is the global leader among countries and markets powered with offshore wind energy in terms of the number and capacity of wind farms installed. According to the GWEC, “Globally, countries added enough offshore wind energy to power 10.2 million homes in 2025 alone. The total was nearly 9.3 gigawatts, an increase of 16% over the previous year (…). The total amount of offshore wind currently installed globally can produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 102 million homes.”[2]
The swift development of offshore wind, especially in China, stands in stark contrast to what is happening in the United States. Since March of this year, the Trump administration has been striking deals with energy companies to get them to cancel wind projects in the U.S.
On June 17, the Interior Department announced it would pay a whopping $756 million to the energy developer Invenergy to abandon four more planned wind farms in the Atlantic and Pacific. As the New York Times reports, this is “the third such deal struck by the Trump administration to cancel offshore wind leases,” which means “the government has so far spent roughly $2.5 billion to get companies to terminate their offshore wind leases.” As the Times article points out, “The agreements with companies to forfeit their offshore leases are a new strategy and represent a highly unusual use of taxpayer dollars.”[3]
These deals are not the first moves Trump has made against offshore wind. In December of last year, the Trump administration ordered construction stopped on five East Coast offshore wind projects, citing national security risks. States and developers sued, and federal judges ruled that the government had not shown sufficient evidence of risk, allowing all five projects to resume construction.
And the Trump administration is not only targeting offshore wind, but on land wind farms as well. As The New York Times reports, “Since April, the Pentagon has stopped all military reviews of proposed wind farms, which are meant to ensure that turbines don’t interfere with local radar or flight paths. Virtually every new wind project in the country needs to undergo these reviews, which until recently were considered routine and often completed within months,” resulting in a “total halt of all wind development in the United States. … At least 106 planned wind projects in 21 states have been stalled indefinitely, representing an estimated $47 billion in potential investment.”[4] A coalition of renewable energy groups has since filed a lawsuit against the Defense Department to order the resumption of the reviews, but as of now, these projects remain stalled.
Trump has long been vocal about his absolute opposition to wind energy, calling it junk. In January, he boasted in a meeting with oil executives at the White House, “We have not approved one windmill since I’ve been in office and we’re going to keep it that way.” In fact, he told the executives, “My goal is to not let any windmill be built. They’re losers.”[5]
Meanwhile, he seems to have no conception that the rest of the world—especially China—is moving rapidly forward with offshore wind development. At this same January event, Trump said, “All you have to do is say to China: 'How many windmill areas do you have in China?' So far they're not able to find any. They use coal and they use oil and gas and some nuclear, not much, but they don't have windmills.”[6]
This attitude—and this ignorance—means the United States is falling far behind China, and much of the rest of the world. According to the GWEC, China is “expected to account for about 56% of the offshore wind capacity forecast to be added worldwide from 2026 to 2030,” while “About 29% is expected to come from the European Union over that period.”[7]
As for the United States? This country is expected to contribute only 5 percent of global offshore wind capacity added worldwide from 2026 to 2030.[8]
Energy security relies upon developing all types and sources of energy, not just a myopic focus on oil. As I’ve written about in recent articles, the war in Iran and stoppage of the Strait of Hormuz has shown just how perilous it is to rely primarily on oil for energy. While China and much of the rest of the world makes huge strides in building energy independence and security, the United States falls further and further behind, placing it more and more at risk.
Frank Dalene, an Amazon Best Selling Author in Green Business & Environmental Economics titled, Decarbonize The World: Solving The Climate Crisis While Increasing Profits In Your Business, and Founder of the Hamptons Green Alliance, a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. Learn more at frankdalene.com and hamptonsgreenalliance.org.
[1] Jennifer McDermott, “Trump Has Hindered Offshore Wind While China and Other Countries Invest Heavily,” AP News, May 14, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/offshore-wind-energy-climate-trump-b8be5561c56d8932ef97fcbec9062fe1.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Brad Plumer, “Trump Administration to Pay $765 Million to Cancel 4 More Wind Projects,” Climate, The New York Times, June 17, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/climate/trump-wind-farms-cancel-millions.html.
[4] Brad Plumer, “Renewable Groups Sue to End Pentagon’s ‘Total Halt’ of Wind Power,” Climate, The New York Times, June 12, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/climate/wind-power-lawsuit-pentagon-trump.html.
[5] Dinah Voyles Pulver, “Trump Assails ‘windmills’ and Wind Energy as Junk: ‘They’re Losers,’” USA TODAY, January 11, 2026, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/09/trump-assails-windmills-and-wind-energy-as-junk-theyre-losers/88108694007/.
[6] Ibid.
[7] McDermott.
[8] Ibid.