Donald Trump's hatred of wind farms just killed a plan to build a factory that would have made parts for the farms, leading to the creation of hundreds of jobs for a small East coast town.
The Prysmian Group, an Italian manufacturing company, had planned to turn an old power plant in Somerset, Rhode Island, into a factory making undersea cables for off-shore wind farms, as reported by the Public's Radio.
But after years of planning, the company announced it was canceling plans for the factory, taking the promise of 200 to 350 new jobs away from the town.
"Donald Trump has unraveled that promise of good jobs by threatening a moratorium on offshore wind, generating so much uncertainty that companies pull back investment," U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss told the station.
Trump has been very vocal about his negative view of wind farms. In a recent interview with Fox News, the president insisted that the machines were "made in China," despite plans like these for factories in the U.S.
Trump: "We don't want windmills in this country. We're putting an order on it. I've already sort of done it. We don't want windmills ... you know what else people don't like? Those massive solar fields." pic.twitter.com/LnH32Xrp2g
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 24, 2025
"We don't want windmills in this country. We're putting an order on it. I've already sort of done it. We don't want windmills," Trump told the outlet. "Nobody wants them, and they're the most expensive energy of any kind of energy."
Although off-shore wind is one of the more expensive sources of renewable energy, the estimated maximum cost is still lower than coal or gas peaking plants, according to a July 2024 article by Visual Capitalist.
Earlier this month, Trump alleged that wind farms are connected to a surge in whale strandings and deaths. This statement, however, contradicts scientific evidence that says otherwise.
"They're 25 stories tall, 40 stories, even 70 stories tall," Trump previously told reporters. "The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously. It's a disaster."
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