A top executive for oil giant Shell spoke out against the Trump administration’s crackdown on the renewable energy industry over the weekend, warning that halting fully permitted projects would be “very damaging” for investment in fossil fuels.
“I think uncertainty in the regulatory environment is very damaging,” Shell USA president Colette Hirstius told the Financial Times.
She warned that the administration could be setting a precedent for future Democratic administrations to take similar actions against oil and gas companies.
“However far the pendulum swings one way, it’s likely that it’s going to swing just as far the other way,” Hirstius told the outlet.
The Trump administration has escalated its efforts to stymie the offshore wind industry in recent weeks and months, making it more difficult for new offshore wind farms to be developed, as well as targeting projects that are under construction and fully permitted.
In August, the Interior Department issued a stop-work order for the Revolution Wind offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. At the time the project was halted, it was estimated to be roughly 80% complete, with around 45 out of 65 planned turbines installed. Danish wind developer Orsted had planned to bring the project online next year.
The Trump administration cited unspecified “national security” concerns in its decision to pause construction, an argument that didn’t hold up in court.
Toward the end of September, a federal judge lifted the stop-work order, calling the administration’s order the “height of arbitrary and capricious actions.”
While this marked a major legal win for the offshore wind industry, there is little certainty that similar projects will be able to finish on time, as the administration has repeatedly emphasized its intention to limit development.
Last month, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the offshore wind industry has no “future” under the administration.
“Right now, under this administration, there is not a future,” Burgum said during the GasTech conference in Milan. “I think the fact that subsidies have been either cut back or limited means that it’s likely that there won’t be future offshore wind built in America.”
There are currently five major offshore wind projects, including Revolution Wind, under construction.
Another project off the coast of New York, known as Empire Wind, was also issued a stop-work order earlier this year. The administration ultimately lifted the order after it made a deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) on new gas pipelines in her state.
The three other projects are Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts, Sunrise Wind off the coast of New York, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind in Virginia.
In a show of support for the offshore wind industry, Hirstius told the Financial Times she would like to see these fully permitted projects move forward.
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She emphasized that regulatory predictability is crucial for any offshore projects, whether it be permitting or leasing. Hirstius also noted that under the Biden administration, the offshore oil and gas sector suffered due to uncertainty around lease sale.
“Similarly, if you think of the business I run offshore that type of permitting uncertainty has been utilized to undermine the permits that we have in the past — and that’s equally as damaging,” she said.
, 2025-10-06 14:54:00, 
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