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The Trump administration is canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development 鈥� the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States.

More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, as offshore locations deemed most suitable for development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for 鈥渟peculative wind development.鈥�

Offshore wind lease sales were anticipated off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Maine, New York, California and Oregon, as well as in the central Atlantic. The Biden administration last year had聽announced a five-year schedule聽to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production.

Trump began reversing the country’s energy policies after taking office in January. A series of聽executive orders聽took aim at increasing oil, gas聽and coal production. Another early聽executive order聽temporarily halted offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and paused the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for all wind projects.

The bureau said it was acting in accordance with Trump’s action and an聽order by his interior secretary聽this week to end any preferential treatment toward wind and solar facilities, which were described as unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources.

Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast NJ, applauded the administration for its actions and said they were long overdue. Opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and organized in New Jersey.

鈥淚t’s hard to believe these projects ever got this far because of the immensity, scale, scope and expense, compared to relatively cheap and reliable forms of onshore power,鈥� he said Thursday. 鈥淲e’re nearly there, but we haven’t reached the finish line yet.鈥�

The Sierra Club said the administration’s 鈥渞elentless obstruction of wind energy鈥� shows it does not care about creating affordable, reliable energy for everyday Americans.

鈥淣o matter how much they want to bolster their buddies in the dirty fossil fuel industry, we will continue to push for the cleaner, healthier, and greener future we deserve,鈥� Xavier Boatright, Sierra Club’s deputy legislative director for clean energy and electrification, stated.

Attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia are suing聽in federal court聽to challenge Trump’s executive order halting leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. His administration had also halted work on a major offshore wind project for New York but聽allowed it to resume in May.

The nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, a聽12-turbine facility called South Fork, opened last year east of Montauk Point, New York.