The BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), a partnership of environmental and labor organizations, issued a report finding that “largely due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), 223 manufacturing, clean energy, and industrial projects are already facing cancellations and delays representing at least $82.8 billion in capital investment, which could cost 111,765 jobs.”
Adding to that impact, on August 6, the Trump administration’s actions against offshore wind projects prompted another developer, RWE, to withdraw from developing offshore wind farms in the United States.
U.S. shipbuilders and vessel operators may also be adversely affected. A new report by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) says floating offshore wind projects are expected to become a major source of demand for vessels supporting wind farm development and operations. Curtailing U.S. offshore wind development could therefore reduce potential demand for vessels and related maritime services in the United States.
Despite fierce opposition from the U.S. maritime industry, the Trump administration decided to continue allowing certain foreign-flagged vessels to transport qualifying cargo between U.S. ports through its latest extension of a Jones Act waiver.
More Than One Million U.S. Jobs at Risk
Jason Walsh, Executive Director of BGA, told AJOT: “The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations. What brings and keeps our partners together is a shared belief that we don't have to choose between good jobs and a clean environment. We can and must have both.”
He said that under the Biden administration, “this country made significant progress toward making that principle real by passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act … to incentivize the creation of good family sustaining jobs, they strengthened critical sectors of the US economy while cutting pollution, built domestic industrial capacity and sustainable infrastructure and supported good jobs … We were seeing real impacts in terms of job quality and economic activity. And then in 2025, last year, the Trump administration and Congress took a sledgehammer to that progress through their very misnamed One Big Beautiful Bill. They badly weakened the Inflation Reduction Act, basically raiding about $500B of clean energy manufacturing investment in that law to pay for tax cuts that flow disproportionately to the wealthiest Americans.”
The result, he said, is reflected in the BGA report, which found that “more than 3,034 manufacturing, clean energy, and industrial sites face tax restrictions due to OBBBA, putting at risk $695.2 billion in capital investment and 1,184,996 jobs.”
The BGA report, titled Bait and Switch: The Impacts of Trump Administration Policies at the Intersection of Clean Energy, Manufacturing, and Labor, found:
- 84 canceled or stalled manufacturing projects, resulting in the loss or delay of at least $52 billion in capital investment; and
- 139 canceled clean energy and industrial projects, resulting in the loss or delay of at least $30.8 billion in capital investment.
The loss or delay of manufacturing and clean energy projects may cost the nation 111,765 jobs, including:
- 47,135 manufacturing jobs; and
- 56,959 construction jobs.
At least 3,034 manufacturing, clean energy, and industrial sites are subject to stricter tax eligibility requirements under OBBBA. These sites face tighter deadlines and restrictions to qualify. This puts at risk:
- At least 750 manufacturing sites expected to create at least 160,325 manufacturing and operations jobs and 20,678 construction jobs, representing more than $218.8 billion in capital investment.
- At least 2,284 clean energy and industrial sites expected to create at least 36,132 manufacturing and operations jobs and 967,861 construction jobs, representing more than $476.4 billion in capital investment.
In addition, BGA said, “There are significant impacts to the rights and health and safety of workers from decisions made by Trump and the GOP Congress. These include executive orders, funding cuts, and agency decisions that Trump and Republicans in Congress have enacted to dismantle unions, worker safety protections, and equity efforts in the private and public sectors.”
Offshore Wind Actions Put U.S. Jobs at Risk
To track the costs of the Trump administration’s actions against offshore wind, the BlueGreen Alliance has launched a webpage tallying and documenting impacts that it said “have totaled $3.9 billion in taxpayer money, abandoned 21.15 GW (gigawatt) of energy, and cost the nation at least 57,000 projected jobs.”
On August 6, RWE U.S. Offshore announced that it had reached a $1.22 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of the Interior to resolve claims against the U.S. government and relinquish offshore wind leases in the New York Bight and off the coasts of California and Louisiana. The settlement “enables RWE to redeploy its capital to accelerate value-accretive opportunities that deliver reliable and affordable energy.”
RWE U.S. Offshore said it had secured the leases from the U.S. government with a long-term commitment to develop offshore wind capacity in American waters and had invested more than $1 billion in the leases and the development of the projects.
The company said: “After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the US for the foreseeable future.”
Jobs Impact
California port officials have told AJOT that delayed offshore wind projects may cost California as many as 10,000 new jobs. For example, blocking wind development has affected plans for Humboldt County in Northern California, where projections indicated that offshore wind farms and related port development could require 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs at Humboldt Bay. Additional projected jobs are associated with the planned development of the Pier Wind offshore wind assembly facility at the Port of Long Beach.
Energy Impact
Hillary Bright, executive director of offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, told the Associated Press that these buyouts are not one-for-one “swaps” for another kind of energy because the replacement projects will not deliver power to the same states as the offshore wind farms would have.
“Replacing coastal offshore wind with geothermal or natural gas infrastructure in another region does nothing to address rising ratepayer affordability concerns, reliability challenges or potential gaps in power supply in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,” she said in a statement.
Offshore Wind’s Shipbuilding Potential
A 2026 ABS report, Floating Offshore Wind, states: “Vessel Demand. Floating offshore wind is expected to generate a significant new source of demand for offshore vessels, with mooring installation representing one of the most vessel-intensive elements of project execution. Large anchor handling, tug supply vessels and multipurpose support vessels are expected to play central roles in pre-installing anchors and mooring lines, towing floaters, supporting hookup and tensioning activities and installing electrical array cables. Importantly, this demand can build on an established offshore support foundation.”
California Harbor-Craft Emission Waivers Under Attack
On August 6, congressional Republicans introduced resolutions seeking to revoke federal waivers that allow California to enforce strict emissions standards for commercial harbor craft and oceangoing vessels that dock at its ports.
Sens. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska introduced Congressional Review Act resolutions targeting the state’s Commercial Harbor Craft and At-Berth rules, respectively—putting the nation’s strongest maritime emissions regulations at risk, according to E&E News.
In an emailed statement to AJOT, Davina Hurt, Climate Policy Director at Pacific Environment, criticized those actions: “While the US wants to lead the shipbuilding industry, Congress is undercutting the competitiveness of the industry by overturning California’s clean shipping waivers. This congressional attack on California’s At Berth and Commercial Harbor Craft waivers undercuts longstanding investments already made in cleaner vessels, port infrastructure and maritime innovations.”
Through its efforts to curtail renewable energy investment and manufacturing, the Trump administration has put more than 1 million potential American jobs at risk, according to BGA’s analysis. The administration’s actions have also affected the potential contributions of offshore wind to renewable energy production, job creation and vessel demand, as well as efforts to use battery power to reduce harbor-craft fuel consumption, maintenance and repair costs.
