Atlantic Shores Wind Project Sinks—And With It, A Green Illusion
There are few things more satisfying than watching a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle collapse under the weight of its own bureaucratic absurdity and scientific sloppiness. That’s precisely what happened when a critical air permit for the Atlantic Shores South offshore wind farm was voided—just weeks after President Donald Trump publicly hoped the project was “dead and gone.” He got his wish.
And if this story weren’t already sweet enough, it came courtesy of Bloomberg, a publication not exactly known for its admiration of Trump or skepticism of the climate change-industrial complex.
The project—backed by none other than Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables—suffered a major blow when the U.S. Environmental Appeals Board granted a remand of the EPA’s air pollution permit. The agency had issued this permit less than six months earlier, but now, thanks to legal challenges from local citizens and the Trump administration’s new energy policies, it’s back to square one.
Let’s pause and savor the irony: a project intended to save the planet was derailed by the EPA—because of air pollution concerns. You can’t make this stuff up.
According to Bloomberg, “The decision to remand an Environmental Protection Agency air pollution permit for the Atlantic Shores South venture is the boldest strike yet against a wind farm since Trump took office in January and froze federal permitting of the projects.” Just weeks before, Trump had blasted the project, calling it a “large scale Windmill DISASTER off the coast of Southern New Jersey” and wishing it a swift death. Almost prophetically, it got it.
Shell, recognizing the writing on the wall, had already jumped ship, writing off nearly $1 billion and pulling out as an equity partner. That’s not exactly a vote of confidence in the green energy future, especially from a corporation eager to greenwash its image at every opportunity.
And what caused this glorious collapse? Not just executive action, but local resistance—people who live near the proposed turbine site, armed with common sense and a healthy distrust of bad math. The group Save LBI filed a challenge against the EPA’s permit, citing “flawed analysis, including improper air quality modeling.” The Appeals Board agreed.
Bob Stern, head of Save LBI, put it bluntly: “It highlights the lack of full disclosure and questionable science and mathematics that has characterized other applications and approvals.” That’s code for: the numbers don’t add up, the models are junk, and someone finally noticed.
Make no mistake, this isn’t just about one permit. This is a high-voltage message to the entire offshore wind sector. If these projects can be stopped for sloppy modeling and dodgy math, then the entire house of cards might be in trouble.
Bloomberg framed this as a troubling development for energy investors. Jason Ryan from the American Clean Power Association lamented that the move could “chill investment in the US for all types of infrastructure if a project permit is canceled for political reasons and not because of real impacts.” But here’s the punchline—this was because of real impacts. The project flunked the regulatory sniff test. Investors are right to be spooked. They’re finally realizing these wind fantasies don’t stand up to scrutiny.
This case is also a textbook example of how the climate crusade sacrifices transparency and public input for the illusion of progress. Offshore wind projects are “uniquely vulnerable to political shifts,” Bloomberg admits. Well, good. They should be. When a trillion-dollar sector feeds off public subsidies, environmental exemptions, and manipulated data, political accountability becomes a feature, not a bug.
Atlantic Shores was supposed to deliver 2.8 gigawatts of electricity via 200 turbines—about 8.7 miles off the Jersey coast. But the public never bought the green utopia they were selling. Instead, people asked uncomfortable questions. Like: why are we installing massive metal structures in marine ecosystems to fix a problem that hasn’t been properly measured, modeled, or proven?
And that’s the crux. The offshore wind push, like so much of climate policy, rests on wobbly assumptions. The Atlantic Shores debacle isn’t an isolated misstep. It’s a symptom of a system built on speculative science and political theater. It’s not just the wind that’s blowing—so is the smoke screen.
So let’s raise a turbine-sized toast to President Trump, Save LBI, and every skeptical voice who refused to be gaslit by Green New Dealers in lab coats and pinstripe suits. With any luck, this is just the first domino in a long line of wind follies waiting to topple.
The climate-industrial complex is finally facing a breeze it can’t spin.
Atlantic Shores Wind Project Sinks—And With It, A Green Illusion
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