Open Circuit – "Trump’s Offshore Wind War Shakes Investors"

Podcast: Open Circuit (Latitude Media)
Date: September 12, 2025
Hosts: Steven Lacy (B), Kathryn Hamilton (D), Jigar Shah (C)

Overview

This episode dives deep into the Trump administration's aggressive rollback of offshore wind projects—the impact on investors, supply chains, and jobs across the clean energy sector. The hosts break down the unprecedented industry disruption, why it matters beyond wind, the ripple effects on clean energy, and debate the future of nuclear in the AI/energy transition era.

Key Discussion Points

1. Offshore Wind Under Assault

Main Event:
Trump’s administration halts and rolls back offshore wind projects, citing dubious claims (e.g., whale deaths, underwater drone threats, inflated costs), and leveraging federal power to pause or revoke permits—most dramatically with Orsted's nearly complete Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island.

• B (Steven Lacy) [05:26]:
  "On his first day in office, Trump laid out his wind policy in one simple sentence: 'we are not going to do the wind thing.' ...America is indeed not doing the wind thing anymore."
• D (Kathryn Hamilton) [06:31]:
  "No. Although there are a lot of different angles to this...There's a really big pushback. Orsted...challenged the DC district Court...17 states and the District are suing the government and challenging the presidential authority from the day one executive order."
• D [10:47]:
  "It feels like a very emotional rationale for stopping something...New England ISO...basically said that stopping Revolution wind would undermine system reliability. That is a big deal."

Notable Quote:

• D [11:57]:
  "RFK Jr. is also saying that this is very harmful...109 whale groundings in 22 months. Zero whale groundings have been linked to wind at all. None."

Key Insights:

• Direct political intervention is stalling billions in clean energy investment.
• Claims used for justification (cost, national security, environmental harm) do not hold up to scrutiny.
• Major industry players, states, and even conservative grid operators warn of grid reliability and economic fallout.

2. Why This Is a Broader Threat: Investor Uncertainty & Clean Energy Ripple Effects

• C (Jigar Shah) [13:17]:
  "It's not just this project...the work we're doing here is impacting our relationships with Denmark broadly...These are countries who have decided to invest billions of dollars into our country."
• C [15:20]:
  "If government approvals can be undone at will, what is actually safe?...even if things move forward, the cost of capital goes up."
• D [19:06]:
  "We're also going to see knock on effects of all these...industries that the administration purports to care about, for example, shipping...offshore wind has created so much additional supply chain and other types of industries..."

Key Insights:

• Unpredictable permit reversals freeze all kinds of development, raise financing costs, and damage global investor confidence in U.S. infrastructure.
• Effects extend well beyond wind—transmission, shipping, and even oil/gas and manufacturing are negatively impacted.
• U.S. utilities are deeply worried about being scapegoated for price hikes or reliability failures.

Notable Quote:

• C [19:59]:
  "They're winning a meme war on Twitter, but they're not winning the Main Street argument...the utilities...believe that they are going to be blamed fully for these rate increases."

3. Industry and Political Repercussions

• D [21:53]:
  "All of these companies, offshore wind included, they all have employees and people, many of whom voted for this president...They just want work and they want really good work and they found a good job in an industry that was growing."
• D [22:43]:
  "I do not [think it’s the end]. I actually think they're going to keep going. I think some of them may kind of wait it out a bit...this is a long term, big infrastructure industry. I don't think it's dead."
• C [23:19]:
  "I agree with Catherine...the President is putting us into a massive recession...Offshore wind will come roaring back strong…in 2030, 2031."

Key Insights:

• While the immediate future is grim, hosts predict the U.S. offshore wind industry will survive—courts, contracts, and sunk investment all provide staying power if the political situation shifts.
• Clean energy’s value as a jobs and economic driver may ultimately erode political support for its suppression—particularly in regions directly hit by layoffs and project halts.

4. Clean Energy Job Market: Challenges & Resilience

• B [26:05]:
  "The overall clean energy job story is a bit schizophrenic...The last data I saw from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that clean energy is still a pretty fast growing part of the US workforce."
• D [27:23]:
  "There are very specific business models that right now are in real jeopardy...Posigen falls into that. They are very much pegged to LMI communities...And when that was pulled back, some of those entities...finding themselves without the funding to do so."
• C [29:07]:
  "We have a lot of weak companies...As the interest rates went way up...a lot of them faced a lot of strain...But the companies that have been able to pivot or double down...are going to be okay."

Key Insights:

• Layoffs and bankruptcies are real, heavily affecting companies dependent on public support or philanthropic capital.
• Stronger players with adaptable models and market-driven approaches are thriving and poised to pick up market share.
• Network effects: as weaker companies fold, their talent and assets are absorbed by healthier competitors, maintaining net sectoral job growth.

Notable Quotes:

• C [29:07]:
  "The overall deployment of clean energy has never been stronger. I’m more bullish today at re+ than I was coming in."
• D [31:24]:
  "I'm seeing a lot of companies that are now scooping up the assets...and finding that is tremendous opportunity for growth...jobs are changing...that just creates more opportunity."

5. Evolution of "Green Jobs" and Workforce Needs

• C [32:25]:
  "Jobs are changing radically...we have reduced the cost of developing a project by 80%...AI is doing a lot more...jobs in revenue maximization...But, you know, the tried and true jobs...the trades—still have a shortage."
• D [34:49]:
  "Right now in some places, green [jobs] seems to be—the term—seems to be out of favor, but the result is the same...these are just considered good jobs."
• C [35:40]:
  "We also don't need to classify stuff anymore. I don't call us alternative energy, I just call us dominant...when you're 85% of everything on the grid."

Key Insights:

• The language of “green jobs” has faded as clean energy work becomes mainstream, essential, and non-political for most workers.
• Skilled blue-collar trades continue to underpin sector growth; job growth is robust even as emerging technologies and AI reshape job roles.

6. Nuclear Power, AI Boom, and Future Power Mix

• B [35:56]:
  "Is nuclear winning? Amory Lovins argues the AI boom will not rescue nuclear."
• C [37:28]:
  "The part that bothers me about this way of thinking...is that they just believe America can never do big things...Why single out nuclear power?"
• D [39:33]:
  "That's the argument that the Trump administration is making against offshore wind. Those are big projects. Can we build big projects?...demand is rising...we have to use whatever we can get our hands on."
• C [41:49]:
  "The restart of the TMI plant is because of a contract with Microsoft...Google has gone all in on Kairos...OPG...with GE Hitachi...You’re seeing real data points with real commercial contracts..."

Key Insights:

• Both hosts and analyst Amory Lovins debate whether booming electricity demand from AI/data centers will drive a U.S. nuclear renaissance.
• Hosts agree nuclear faces real cost and construction challenges; however, a handful of projects (especially modular and smaller reactors) are moving forward with tech-industry and utility backing.
• The nuclear industry’s “American-ness” narrative is challenged—its supply chain is as globally interconnected as wind or solar.

Cost Outlook:

• U.S. unlikely to match Chinese nuclear construction costs, but new modular reactor manufacturing might lower expenses over time—though probably never to ultra-low levels.
• C [48:18]:
  "I’m bullish on the cost structure. I think we can consistently get to…9.9 cents a kilowatt hour. I don’t think it ever gets to 2 cents...the value of nuclear is very high...the cost of a high, clean, firm grid is 37% cheaper than a high solar and wind grid because you have to build so much transmission."

7. Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "Offshore wind has created so much additional...industries...you're gonna have an adverse impact on a bunch of other things too." – D [19:06]
• "They're winning a meme war on Twitter, but they're not winning the Main Street argument." – C [19:59]
• "The President is putting us into a massive recession...Offshore wind will come roaring back strong." – C [23:19]
• "We also don't need to classify stuff anymore. I don't call us alternative energy, I just call us dominant." – C [35:40]
• "Why single out nuclear power?" – C [37:28]
• "This is a global marketplace and in order to build big things, you gotta work with other countries to do it." – D [46:38]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:51–01:46: Overview of Trump’s unprecedented clean energy rollback and podcast topics
• 05:26–15:50: Offshore wind project halts, investigations, and pushback; U.S. investor/international fallout
• 19:06–23:19: Political and long-term effects for utilities, jobs, regional economies
• 26:05–32:25: Clean energy job market: layoffs, bankruptcies, and bright spots
• 35:56–51:48: AI, nuclear war, and whether the demand/tech boom will revive the sector

Conclusion

The episode provides a comprehensive, emotionally charged, and data-driven exploration of how Trump’s war on offshore wind reverberates through investment, American jobs, clean energy politics, and even the future of nuclear. While the situation for offshore wind and broader clean energy is fraught, the hosts express optimism in the sector's resilience and ability to adapt—even as they warn of the dangers of politicizing every energy source.