Whitehouse to Welcome Revolution Wind Union Worker to Washington Ahead of State of the Union Address

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today announced that he will give his guest ticket for this year's State of the Union address to Thomas Kilday of West Greenwich, an apprentice electrician and member of IBEW Local 99. Kilday is working on building Orsted's Revolution Wind project, and has had his job abruptly halted twice because of President Trump's stop work orders on the offshore wind farm.

"Rhode Island union workers like Mr. Kilday have done much to secure America's clean, affordable energy future, even as the President does everything he can to keep families chained to dirty, expensive fossil fuels," said Senator Whitehouse. "As President 'Stop Work' Trump boasts of a year of chaos and corruption, he will be met by a dedicated union worker whose livelihood was upended to allow Trump to serve his fossil fuel billionaires."

Whitehouse will not attend Trump's State of the Union, and did not attend the President's address to a joint session of Congress last year or his inauguration.

Thomas Kilday, who has worked on the Revolution Wind project for over a year, was on a work boat the first time President Trump halted the project. The second time, he was at home awaiting his next four-week shift. Kilday said that the sudden shutdown of the project felt like "running a marathon and getting tripped 100 feet from the finish line."

"I am honored to be invited to the State of the Union and to meet with Senator Whitehouse, as a representative of the IBEW and workers on offshore wind and renewable energy projects across the country," said Kilday. "I look forward to being able to share my experiences on the Revolution Wind Project and the struggles that my fellow tradespeople and I have faced through these multiple stop-work orders."

Wind power is one of the fastest, cheapest ways to meet rising electricity demand. The Trump Administration is weaponizing federal bureaucracy to try and kill clean energy projects that will save Americans money and reduce the carbon pollution that is driving climate change in order to pay back Trump's fossil fuel donors.

Last month, a Washington, D.C. federal court blocked the Trump Administration's second attempt at stopping construction of Revolution Wind. Construction has resumed on the offshore wind farm, which is nearly complete and contracted to deliver much-needed affordable electricity to Rhode Islanders this year.