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Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, there is really nothing--nothing--to celebrate about Republicans' ``big, beautiful bill,'' unless you are a billionaire or an oil company. But for everyone else, this so-called ``big, beautiful bill'' is, in fact, nothing more than a big fat grift: taking money away from people, raising costs on average Americans, all to help the billionaires. And, today, I want to talk about how Republicans' big grift is an assault on America's clean energy--the bill that was just released by the Energy and Commerce Committee, or at least that part of it.
Now, Donald Trump and Republicans claim to want American energy dominance, but from the moment he became President, they have been hell-bent on killing the clean energy investments America needs to meet the energy needs of tomorrow. They say they want more energy, and then they cut off the cheapest, quickest, most available form of energy for ideological and grift reasons.
In a moment, I will talk about the awful Republican bill that just came out of committee, but first I want to talk about a specific project. Donald Trump's clean energy vendetta is wreaking particular havoc on New York's offshore wind industry. And it is a warning--a warning--to the rest of America on how he will deal with clean energy projects. What has happened here is utterly despicable, amazing, and awful.
A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suddenly and without explanation issued a stop work order on New York's Empire Wind farm, a $7 billion project already underway by the company Equinor. This is not some project in the planning stages. No, no, no. This was approved years ago. Three to four billion dollars have been put into developing the offshore windmills that will provide energy for hundreds of thousands of homes--clean energy, cheap energy. And, all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, the Secretary of the Interior says: You must stop the project because the environmental impact statement was rushed.
The company asks why, and the Interior Secretary says: Well, there is a report that NOAA has issued--that is in the Commerce Department--that says this was rushed and inadequate in terms of the environmental impact.
So the company asked--I have asked, repeatedly--for the Commerce Department to show us what the reasoning is, which we think there is none--to show us the specifics of why they halted this project out of the clear blue, a project employing hundreds and hundreds--thousands-- of people, a project where there are boats--I think close to 50 of them--right offshore actually building these offshore wind turbines.
Now it is stopped, but there is no explanation. This is like a dictatorship--no due process, no explanation. Out of the blue, just as billions have already been spent and just as construction is underway off the coast, just as 30 percent of the project is built, Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick say: Halt.
It is outrageous.
Give us a reason, says the company. We have invested billions here in America.
They are a Norwegian company, one of the largest offshore wind companies in the world. They are well-qualified. They are well-known. They have a history.
Give us a reason. Show us what is wrong with the approval previously 2, 3 years ago of the environmental statements.
And there is silence. No answer. No reason. And the project is now on hold.
All the boats, they are out there. The workers are out there. No explanation has been given, nor has Equinor been given any opportunity to discuss and address potential problems.
This is not how businesses operate. Our friends on the other side like to talk about running government more like a business. Well, this is just outrageous. And every week that Empire Wind sits idle, it costs $50 million.
So now, the project may die altogether. Why? We know why. Donald Trump hates offshore wind. He hates offshore wind because, supposedly, years ago, they built a wind farm off the coast of his Scotland golf course. He fought to kill it. He lost. So now he is taking it out on all offshore wind to the detriment of the American energy needs in a way that is like--it is like a dictatorship.
Stop, they say. We are not giving you a reason.
It is outrageous. It is malicious and intentional sabotage. It is an outright attack on New York jobs, on New York workers, and it is happening for no other reason than partisan ideology and political sociopathy--partisan ideology because the rightwing oil and gas barons hate clean energy, even though it is the cheapest way to reduce our energy needs, and political sociopathy because Donald Trump hates offshore wind because he didn't like windmills off his golf course in Scotland.
The Trump administration must at least give an explanation so the company can answer why they should continue with the project. I call on Secretary Lutnick to immediately release the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that was used as justification to halt work on the Empire Wind project.
New Yorkers, Americans, the company which invests heavily in America deserves to know: Why halt this project? What is the deal? What is the justification? And what is the plan to get the jobs back on track? These are good jobs--good-paying jobs.
If everything is on the level, the administration should not fear being transparent with Equinor. What is the answer? How can they shut the project down and give no explanation?
We have called the Secretary of the Interior. He says it is up to Lutnick and NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They are the ones who say that this was approved too quickly, even though it has been working with no problems for years and work is ongoing and construction is ongoing.
By the way, to everyone investing in America, whether you are an American company or not, this should be a shot-across-the-bow warning of what this administration can do--out of the clear blue, just say stop, no explanation, no reason, no ands, ifs, or buts.
Our business community should be outraged about how this business is being treated, not just the energy business. They can do this anywhere. We need answers, and at the very minimum, the explanation as to why they ordered this project stopped, which I imagine is very flimsy and came from Donald Trump's sociopathy because he hates offshore wind because of what they did. He didn't like those windmills off the golf course in Scotland. It is well-known that is why he hates offshore wind.
So what happened with Equinor is just a disgusting travesty that must be reversed. It is so, so outrageously unfair, malicious, and counterproductive for America's energy needs.
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