Labor union warns offshore wind leasing pause risks thousands of U.S. jobs

Brent Booker, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the administration’s pause on offshore wind leasing has upended projects and cost union members jobs.

Booker, who described LiUNA as "a strong, proud, diverse union representing over 530,000 workers," said the offshore industry had been generating new construction and port work and that the pause had led developers to withdraw construction plans. He cited a specific project by name in testimony: "1 project is a starboard wind project, 1,184 megawatt project proposed by Oersted about 30 miles south of Martha's Vineyard," and said it "was expected to power upwards of 600,000 homes." He said those cancellations threaten "thousands, if not tens of thousands" of construction and related jobs across shipyards, ports and factories.

Booker urged lawmakers not to use project approvals as political bargaining chips and said the effects fall hardest on workers who lose predictable employment. He also said the building trades support an "all of the above" energy strategy and that consistent permitting and project predictability are essential to sustaining union jobs.

Senators who questioned Booker asked about job estimates and the downstream impacts on consumers and ports; Booker said effects include lost employment and lost generation capacity for the grid. The committee did not vote on leasing or energy policy at the hearing; lawmakers and witnesses agreed the issue merits further attention in pending legislative work on permitting.