Golly Nell.
I think I've gotten ahold of a couple more feel-good stories that are tickling me to my toes.
The first I saw the other day, but I hadn't had a chance to catch you all up on.
Back in mid-July, that massive US Wind project off the Maryland-Delaware coasts that we've been tracking for a couple of years now suffered a setback at the hands of the Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Now run by Secretary Lee Zeldin, the EPA was doing its due diligence going through a thorough permitting process review of US Wind thanks to a lawsuit filed by Maryland towns and counties against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Biden administration. All for what the plaintiffs alleged was 'fast-tracking' the permit process. Well, it turns out that under EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin, the eyeballs at that agency did find 'multiple legal errors' in the permitting process on the State of Maryland's side of the paperwork, and gave them a deadline to fix it, with the 'or else' pretty clearly implied.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) improperly issued its final permit decision for the U.S. Wind offshore wind project off the coast of Ocean City. https://t.co/D33eCnEgCS
— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) July 11, 2025
Ocean City, Maryland, had already gotten the go-ahead for the lawsuit from a federal judge earlier in the month, so this was an insult to a pretty near fatal injury.
But US Wind wasn't dead in the water yet.
As of news from a 28 July court hearing, they might be reserving space in Davy Jones' locker, though.
The feds are reconsidering approval of the federal permits for the project and are doing so as part of another lawsuit against the wind farm.
SHIVER ME TIMBERS
The federal government says it will reconsider its approval of US Wind’s offshore wind project and plans to seek a voluntary remand in a legal challenge filed by the Town of Ocean City.
The announcement came in a July 28 court filing in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, where attorneys for the Department of the Interior also asked for more time to respond to a separate lawsuit filed by South Bethany property owner Edward Bintz. That case, Bintz v. United States Department of the Interior, alleges the government’s approval of the project violated the Coastal Zone Management Act.
They're also asking for a remand in the Ocean City lawsuit, which would then enable them to pull the permit approvals if they see fit to do so.
...The Maryland lawsuit, Ocean City v. Department of the Interior, was the first to challenge the project’s approval. The federal government now says it plans to request a voluntary remand in that case, which would allow the Department of the Interior to reevaluate its earlier decision while the court pauses proceedings.
“So basically, it’s the agency saying they want to re-evaluate what had been done previously,” Pawloski said.
Between using the two lawsuits as vehicles to rescind permitting approval and righting egregious wrongs through the courts, this is a one-two legal punch, all completely above board and done by the books.
Expect the screaming to be epic.
As if that wasn't cheerful enough, news came today of a massive flat-out victory on another hugely controversial project I've covered - the Lava Ridge Wind Farm.
From the turbines intruding on national heritage sites to gulping up millions of gallons of precious water resources already scarce and rationed for farmers in the proposed area, Lava Ridge was an anathema for most everyone but developers.
Wind is dead in the US: Trump kills Lava Ridge wind project:
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) August 6, 2025
"The Lava Ridge Wind Project, approved in December 2024 by the Biden administration's Bureau of Land Management, was expected to be a 1,000-megawatt wind farm with up to 231 wind turbines across nearly 57,447 acres in… pic.twitter.com/3Oi3iVDJ77
President Donald Trump's Interior Department is canceling what would have been one of the largest land-based wind farms in the United States after former President Joe Biden's "last-minute" push to approve the project during his final weeks in office.
The Interior Department's action follows a Day One executive order signed by Trump that moved to place a temporary moratorium on the controversial wind project. The order was followed up by another executive directive from Idaho GOP Gov. Brad Little, which directed state agencies to comply with Trump's order to halt the Lava Ridge project and other wind energy leasing in all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf.
In Trump's executive order, the president also requested a new review be conducted by the Interior Department, citing the fact that the Biden administration may have skirted certain legal obligations associated with approving the Lava Ridge project.
Interior Secretary Burgum made it official in his announcement.
Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is restoring common sense to American energy policy by reversing the Biden administration’s misguided, last-minute push to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project, an enormous and unpopular 1,000-megawatt wind facility in southern Idaho, during the final days of the former president’s term. Under President Donald J. Trump, the Department of the Interior will no longer provide preferential treatment towards unreliable, intermittent power sources that harm rural communities, livelihoods and the land, such as the Lava Ridge Wind Project and the radical Green New Scam agenda that burdens our nation and public lands.
Consistent with President Trump's memorandum, titled "Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects," the Department reviewed the Biden administration's reckless December 2024 decision to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project, which would have covered nearly 57,447 acres with up to 231 wind turbines. Following its review, the Department discovered crucial legal deficiencies in the issuance of the approval, including unique statutory criteria that were ignored.
"Under President Donald Trump's bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "By reversing the Biden administration's thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation."
There's a lot of yahooin' going on. Kill it, kill it dead.
I have yet to talk to one Magic Valley resident who supported the out-of-touch Lava Ridge Wind Project.
— Congressman Mike Simpson (@CongMikeSimpson) August 6, 2025
The people of the Magic Valley are grateful for President Trump's executive order to kill this project. My FY26 @HouseAppropsGOP language puts the nail in the coffin. pic.twitter.com/2IGdLMHs9e
This is spectacular.
Now, that doesn't mean that there aren't still turbine towers to climb or idiots with money to burn. Again today, right here in Pensacola, there was a what's considered a huge announcement in these redneck of the woods that about floored me.
I know the GE plant up on Scenic Highway has been making turbines for years, but who are these guys?
A manufacturing facility in Pensacola is celebrating their growth.
Jupiter Bach North America cut the ribbon on a 22,000 square foot addition on July 31. They now have more than 105,000 square feet dedicated to making parts for wind turbines.
General manager Sean Guidry says it's a strategic expansion that's designed to accommodate growing customer demand. He says it can also been seen as an investment in their employees. They have 250 workers, with room now for up to 400.
And this was an interesting little factoid.
...Guidry says around half of all wind turbines in the United States were manufactured in the Pensacola area.
Well, huh.
But there's always someone pooping on the wind parade anymore, and this time it was right in the comments on this press release/local news article.
I wonder if Jupiter Bach NORTH AMERICA is talking to the Jupiter Bach mother ship?
Congrats, but 2 weeks ago Jupiter-Bach, a Denmark based Company stated they were "pausing expansion plans and scaling back expected hiring after the passage of a sweeping federal energy bill that rolls back long-term support for the clean energy industry."
Did the Danish Parent Company commit more funds?
wind-supplier-scales-back-hiring-after-passage-of-trumps-energy-bill
The policy shift comes after President Donald Trump signed the Bill into law earlier this month. The legislation significantly shortens the eligibility window for wind and solar tax credits, which were previously locked in through 2032 under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Also, there is no need to throw phrases like "patriots" around.
We're Americans and we are all proud of "American Made", so no need for the faux virtue signaling, especially when you're foreign owned.
The article the flaming great comment references even talks specifically about the Pensacola plant, which is, as I suspected, a parts supplier for the GE Vernova plant up the road.
And it's all about those lovely government tax credits and IRA green grifting subsidies going away.
...The policy shift comes after President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law earlier this month. The legislation significantly shortens the eligibility window for wind and solar tax credits, which were previously locked in through 2032 under the Inflation Reduction Act. Projects must now break ground by 2026 and enter service by 2027 to receive full tax benefits.
Those credits helped drive more than $70 million in investment at GE Vernova’s nacelle plant in Pensacola since 2023, as well as an additional $5 million that Jupiter Bach invested in its own operations nearby.
Guidry said his company had planned for an additional $1.2 million of investments to their Pensacola plant this year.
"Now those are in question," he said.
Guidry said the new policy introduces a level of uncertainty that’s already complicating long-term planning.
I don't want to see anyone in town lose their jobs - we have few enough decent ones as there are. But I am also not going to be hypocritical in defending taxpayers supporting our little group of turbine builders subsisting on the government dole when everyone else has to make or break it in a marketplace on their own.
That writing has been on the wall for over a year insofar as Trump's intentions if he won, and for a couple of years as far as the industry itself ever becoming self-sustaining.
It can't.
Another glaring illustration of that today in green grifting Heaven.
No subsidies, no bids.
— David Turver (@7Kiwi) August 6, 2025
Germany’s latest, subsidy-free, offshore wind auction failed to attract any bids. Meanwhile, Miliband increasing the guaranteed prices on offer in AR7.
But, but...renewables are supposed to be cheap. pic.twitter.com/w9YvIJgcD3
If you can't make it work there, you're not going to blow smoke anywhere.
Cocktails, anyone?
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