Trump team weighs paying $1B to get companies to stop off-shore wind farm projects

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/The Independent

Tuesday 17 March 2026 17:51 EDT


The White House is reportedly preparing to pay nearly $1 billion to an energy giant to abandon major offshore wind projects, moving from legal challenges to direct financial settlements.

After federal judges blocked five previous attempts by the Trump administration to halt wind farms currently under construction along the East Coast, senior officials are now drafting agreements to pay TotalEnergies to walk away from its leases. According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, the proposed settlements would see the Justice Department pay more than $928 million to the French energy firm.

The deal would effectively terminate the Attentive Energy project off the coast of New York and the Carolina Long Bay project in North Carolina. In exchange for the payout — which serves as a reimbursement for lease bids won during the Biden era — TotalEnergies would not only scrap its wind plans but also commit to "accelerated investments" in natural gas infrastructure in Texas.

“It is quite unusual for the administration to do this cash outlay, seemingly just because Trump doesn’t like offshore wind,” John Leshy, a former general counsel for the Interior Department, told The New York Times. This new buyout approach follows a string of courtroom defeats for the administration.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/trump-team-weighs-paying-1b-to-stop-wind-farm-projects/ar-AA1YRa8p

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Where is this "$1 billion" coming from?

How about taking that "$1 billion" and rehiring some feds or putting it back into ACA subsidies?

[eppur_se_muova]

1. "quite unusual" ?? MERCIFUL HEAVENS, NO !! "Quite unusual" is way beyond what we can handle !!

How about totally freakin' unprecedented ? Unjustified and unjustifiable ? How about totally freakin' STUPID ?!?

Or -- since it's Trmp -- how about just OUTRIGHT FREAKIN' INSANE ?? He's basically BRIBING a company to shut down a project -- like paying off an athlete to throw a game, but with much bigger, more serious real-world consequences. Trmp tries to control people (and companies) with threats and bribes because such brutally simple-minded approaches are the only ones simple enough for him to understand. HE. CAN. NOT. GOVERN. in any meaningful sense of the term. He blusters, threatens, and deals in bribes, which will never be an adequate substitute for actual thoughtful, informed, well-planned policies and actions.

He is a FAILED LEADER. Nothing less.

[Walleye]

2. As I said, Trump believes every dollar in the US treasury belongs to him. Not kidding.

[twodogsbarking]

3. Riding a bicycle will now be illegal.

[sop]

4. Let's just call this another government subsidy (paid for by taxpayers) to the fossil fuel interests, to eliminate

competition from renewable energy projects.

[Puppyjive]

11. Nobody ever told big oil to not innovate

I would think if you are in the energy business, you would be active in developing all alternative fuels rather than lose your competitive edge. The more big oil pushes to destroy alternative energy, the more I want them to pay for the climate crisis we are in.

[Old Crank]

5. Just another moronic move

that will keep the US a third rate country.
We will poison the air and land for corporate profit above all.

[Kid Berwyn]

6. He WANTS to destroy planet earth.

Sicko.

[BadgerKid]

13. Or more immediately, regress and cripple the US. nt

[travelingthrulife]

7. More theft and fraud.

Where's DOGE?

[Diamond_Dog]

8. Every day we hear "a billion here, a billion there."

Where are all these billions coming from to cater to this demented traitor’s whims? Congress surely should be doing something about this outright robbery, but of course they are so mysteriously cowed by this sicko they can’t get their heads out of his ass.

Regular Americans are struggling, yet he throws around billions for his pet projects and bribes like it’s nothing.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

9. I assume this money is coming from the congressionally appropriated "Random Bribes" line item. How big is that fund? nt?

[thesquanderer]

10. "Ok, guys, we've bombed Iran. What ELSE can we do to keep energy prices high?" (n/t)

[ratchiweenie]

12. That's our tax dollars and he doesn't allocate tax dollars. Congress does. It's illegal what he is proposing.

[Buddyzbuddy]

14. That's comparable to Los Angeles tearing out street rail car service decades ago to benefit the auto industry.

Short sighted, greedy politicians were at fault. Guess what. They're back, above ground rails, that is. The short sighted greedy politicians never left.

[Vinca]

15. This is insane! We need that energy now more than ever.

[Bayard]

16. He thinks everyone has ethics like him,

Accept this bribe, and move on.

The stupidest thing in the world. He declared war on Venezuela to get their oil, under the guise of regime change where he would pick the new leader. He has declared war on Iran now for the same thing. The $1B bribe wouldn't come from the oil companies who are becoming even richer, but from American taxpayers. Again.

Future generations and the environment be damned! He is not that far-sighted, and wouldn't care if he did see it.

[Grins]

17. Accelerated investments in Texas' natural gas infrastructure

TotalEnergies would not only scrap its wind plans but also commit to "accelerated investments" in natural gas infrastructure in Texas.

Of all states. Texas leads the nation in both solar and wind power electric generation.

Wind and solar power generation has been the fastest-growing source of energy in Texas' power grid. In 2021 it supplied 23% of Texas' electric power, surpassing its second-largest source of energy - coal!

Dec 9, 2025 (Reuters) - For the first time, Texas' main power system looks set to generate more power from solar farms than coal plants during a calendar year in 2025, marking a key new energy transition milestone for the largest power network in the U.S. ...Greater installed solar capacity in Texas this year - up 24% compared to 2024's levels - has allowed solar power output in Texas to surge by 42% so far this year.

This is why we can't have nice things....

[Bengus81]

18. EPSTEIN FILES....EPSTEIN FILES....EPSTEIN FILES....EPSTEIN FILES

[Hope22]

19. For every billion we pay out he gets a big chunk back under the table!

Enough already!