During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the Trump administration lifting a work stop order on the Empire Wind project on Long Island.
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00:00And finally, on Equinor. Yesterday, after weeks of fierce backlash, the Trump
00:06administration backed off its unjustified work stop order for Equinor's
00:12empire wind off the coast of Long Island. I'm really glad the administration backed
00:16off. For weeks, I worked with Governor Hochul, Equinor, and pushed Secretary
00:21Lutnik to release their report explaining their work stop order. They
00:26told Equinor they must stop. They said you didn't meet environmental assessments.
00:30And they wouldn't tell him why. They couldn't even answer. They were so
00:34frustrated, they were ready to leave, even though he invested billions and
00:38billions already in the ground to build these turbines, which could provide up
00:43to 800,000 families with cheaper electricity. Well, the reversal is good.
00:50It will save more than a thousand good-paying New York jobs on Long Island
00:55and on Staten Island. And it will preserve billions in private
00:59investment. What kind of country encourages companies to invest in America and then
01:04all of a sudden makes them lose four or five billion dollars that they've
01:08already sunk into the ground without even giving them a reason for it? A few days
01:12later in this project could have been scrapped entirely. A disaster for New York's
01:16economy and for the entire wind and energy industry. The work stop announced was
01:21rotten the moment it was issued. The administration never gave a real
01:25explanation for its many claims that Equinor permits were rushed. The orders,
01:30this order, seem more like a broadside against the wind industry than anything
01:34else. So this episode should serve as a warning to other industries. Donald Trump
01:40may try to push you, but if you push back he will back off. I say that to all the wind and
01:45solar folks who are producing and are about to produce good, clean, low-cost energy. And
01:52Donald Trump and the Republicans in the House and maybe in the Senate are
01:55threatening them by cutting off the tax breaks we were able to get done in the IRA.
02:00Now that this order is lifted, billions of dollars in private investment will once
02:06again flow into New York. Thousands of New Yorkers and offshore wind supply chain
02:10workers across the country can get back to work. Construction can continue on a
02:15project that will power half a million homes and we can proceed on one of the
02:19biggest most significant offshore wind projects in the country.