By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
President Donald Trump’s executive order pausing offshore and onshore wind development projects will put the brakes on Guam's renewable energy initiative proposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management two weeks before the Republican president assumed office.
In a directive issued on Jan. 20, Trump declared withdrawal “from disposition for wind energy leasing all areas within the offshore continental shelf” effective Jan. 21.
“This withdrawal temporarily prevents consideration of any area in the offshore continental shelf for any new or renewed wind energy leasing for the purposes of generation of electricity or any other such use derived from the use of wind,” the executive order reads.
“This withdrawal does not apply to leasing related to any other purposes such as, but not limited to, oil, gas, minerals, and environmental conservation,” it added.
Trump’s executive order will suspend Guam’s off-shore wind farm development
announced by the Biden administration on Jan. 6.
The BOEM posted a notice on the Federal Register, seeking public input and interest in possible commercial wind energy leasing on the outer continental shelf offshore Guam as part of planning for commercial leasing in the region.
The proposed area consists of 2.1 million located off the coast of Guam, with water depths between 350 to 2,200 meters, the BOEM said.
The bureau said the proposed project was in line with Guam’s goal to meet renewable energy targets of 50 percent by 2035 and complete the transition to renewable sources by 2045.