Don't let Trump suspend off-shore wind

President Donald Trump suspended leases for five previously approved off-shore wind projects because there are "emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers." But the projects had all been previously reviewed and approved by, among others, the Coast Guard, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Air Force.

The reasons for the suspensions are vague; the consequences are not. Thousands of jobs will be lost. An energy source that communities were depending on will be put on hold, increasing already high energy costs for consumers. Uncertainty in energy investments will negatively effect the stock market, and the US will fall even further behind China in developing cheap, renewable energy, and in developing the data centers needed to support US artificial intelligence.

Sometimes hard decisions need to be made, but the decision-making process should be transparent and the reasons for a decision — especially a decision that will result in economic hardship — must be justified. Insist that Congresswoman Miller-Meeks and Senators Grassley and Ernst make sure the administration justifies this decision with well-supported evidence.

Peter Rolnick

Iowa City