Green Oceans supports the Administration’s agreement to relinquish three federal offshore wind leases, including RWE's approximately 126,000-acre lease in the New York Bight
In an agreement announced yesterday, the federal government will return approximately $1.22 billion to German multinational RWE for their withdrawal from offshore wind development in three lease areas, including within the New York Bight coastal marine area. The retirement of RWE's New York Bight lease is especially significant. The waters between New York and New Jersey support productive fisheries, marine-mammal migrations and other activity, recreational uses, maritime commerce, and coastal communities whose economies and identities remain closely connected to a healthy ocean and an identity derived from deeply traditional maritime communities including commercial fishing.
Development across the Bight has been to-date treated as a series of isolated projects. Its cumulative industrial footprint—including turbines, foundations, cables, increased vessel traffic, underwater noise, habitat alteration, and displaced fishing activity—requires far more careful consideration prior to permitting this industrial sprawl.
Recent developments involving Empire Wind reinforce the need for scrutiny
In late July, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allowed claims under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to continue for a lawsuit against Empire Wind led by Save LBI. Those surviving claims concern whether federal regulators properly applied the law's "small numbers" requirement when authorizing potential Level B harassment of as much as 31.9 percent of the Northern Migratory Coastal bottlenose dolphin stock annually for this single project.
The court's decision is an important recognition that the statutory questions raised by the plaintiffs warrant further judicial review. NOAA's authorization covers numerous marine-mammal species, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, and permits incidental harassment associated with construction activities, though it ignores cumulative impacts across multiple simultaneously developed projects which unquestionably impact the very same mammal populations.
Green Oceans views the RWE agreement as an opportunity to step back from the rapid industrialization of the New York Bight and reconsider whether these waters should be committed to projects whose cumulative ecological, navigational, fisheries, and financial consequences remain contested.
Protecting the New York Bight is not opposition to responsible energy policy. It is a call for balanced policy that recognizes the ocean as a living public resource—not a vacant lot awaiting industrial development.
Sources
Reuters - RWE and Trump administration reach $1.22 billion lease-cancellation agreement
Associated Press - Federal offshore-wind lease buybacks approach $4 billion
Bloomberg Law - Empire Wind permit lawsuit proceeds over dolphin-harm review
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About Green Oceans
Green Oceans is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the ocean and the life it supports. Since 2023, Green Oceans and its coalition, including four Native American tribes and environmental, energy, national security, and fishing groups, have worked to challenge large-scale offshore wind development based on its documented impacts on marine ecosystems, energy costs, livelihoods, and national security.
For more information, visit green-oceans.org. Media inquiries, please contact media@green-oceans.com.