Congress has a plan to stop Trump’s attack on offshore wind. It may not be enough.

A bipartisan bill aims to protect offshore wind projects from Trump's attacks, but experts question its effectiveness.

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The clean energy industry has faced significant challenges since President Donald Trump took office for his second term. Despite undergoing extensive reviews to secure federal approval, dozens of wind and solar projects have been delayed or canceled by the Department of the Interior and other agencies for vague 'national security' reasons or without explanation.

The renewable energy sector has hailed a bipartisan bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, as a win. The bill would speed up environmental reviews for all kinds of energy projects and contain provisions to deter current and future presidents from blocking clean energy. Trump reportedly told aides that he would ease up on wind projects to reach a deal.

However, cracks are emerging in the deal. Experts and key climate advocates argue that the 'project certainty' provisions would do little to prevent Trump or another president from blocking solar farms and offshore wind turbines. The Trump administration itself threatened the compromise bill by announcing a review of three permits for wind farms off the Atlantic Coast.

The project certainty portion of the Senate bill has two key parts. It declares that the federal government 'shall not take any new action that would revoke, rescind, withdraw, terminate, suspend, amend, or alter' a project that has already received a permit. The bill also offers companies two main remedies if the government takes prohibited actions: reinstatement of the permit and a cash payout of 25-50% of the project costs.

The other key part of project certainty in the bill is an anti-discrimination clause that would ban 'disparate treatment' of any particular energy source. If a wind developer found evidence that the government denied them permits as part of a discriminatory practice, they could seek compensation.