Attorneys General Neronha and Tong Join Whitehouse’s Podcast to Talk Trump’s Illegal Attacks on Offshore Wind and DOJ’s Worsening Trouble in Federal Courts

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee, late last week released the sixth episode of season two of his podcast, Making the Case. In the new episode, Whitehouse is joined by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, litigants in the Revolution Wind case.

Whitehouse, Neronha, and Tong discussed President Trump and his administration's illegal attacks on the offshore wind industry. Wind power is one of the fastest, safest, cheapest ways to meet rising electricity demand and cut energy prices. Rhode Island and Connecticut are deeply invested in the success of the blue economy, the offshore wind industry, and their nation-leading offshore wind workforces.

"The 'stop-work' Trump administration tried to illegally kill the Revolution Wind Project - a project that was nearly complete, with $4 billion invested, and every permit in place. That reckless decision was a betrayal of the 1,000 local union workers building the project, and the 350,000 Rhode Island and Connecticut families awaiting a new source of affordable, reliable energy," said Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island Attorney General. "Thanks to a decisive courtroom victory that project is now back on track. Tune in as we detail the gangster/gong show madness of the Trump administration's all-out effort to crush the clean energy industry at the behest of its fossil fuel donors."

The sixth episode of season two of Making the Case is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and other podcast platforms.

In August, the Trump Administration issued a stop-work order halting construction on Revolution Wind. Once completed, Revolution Wind will power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut with reliable, affordable, union-built energy. The project has employed more than 1,000 local union workers and completed more than 2 million union work hours. The project underpins nearly $1.3 billion in state investment, new shipbuilding jobs, and critical upgrades to Rhode Island's ports, shipyards, and supply chain. The project was 80 percent complete at the time of the stop work order: all foundations were in place and 45 of 65 turbines had been installed.

In early September, Attorneys General Neronha and Tong filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration in Federal District Court in Rhode Island to overturn the baseless stop work order which halted the construction of Revolution Wind. Ørsted, the project's developer, filed a similar lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. In late September, the court in Washington, D.C. granted a motion for preliminary injunction in Ørsted's case against the Trump Administration, allowing for work on the Revolution Wind project to proceed.