The Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island is roaring back to life after a federal judge granted Ørsted a preliminary injunction Monday — a ruling opponents say will devastate marine life and forever scar the Ocean State’s coastline.
The project had been halted last month when the Trump administration issued a stop-work order, citing national security and maritime safety concerns. But Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and Connecticut’s William Tong sued to overturn the pause, calling it baseless.
Judge Royce Lamberth sided with the developers and his decision now clears Ørsted to resume driving piles into the seafloor and installing giant turbines just 15 miles off Rhode Island’s coast.
Ørsted crowed in victory: “Revolution Wind will resume impacted construction work as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority,” the company said in a statement.
But coastal residents, fishermen, and environmental advocates say the real safety crisis is unfolding beneath the waves. They argue the $5 billion project is blasting apart fragile habitats, disrupting whale migration routes, killing dolphins, and jeopardizing the health of Narragansett Bay.
The 704-megawatt wind farm is touted by Ørsted as clean power for 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, but opponents warn the price will be paid in dead whales, collapsing fisheries, and irreversible coastal damage.
For now, the steel giants keep rising — and so do fears that the state’s push for offshore wind is an environmental disaster masquerading as green energy.
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