US halts construction of giant wind farm off New York coast

The Trump administration has halted construction of a vast wind farm off the coast of New York, which was designed to provide enough electricity to power 500,000 homes.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had "rushed through" the approval of the Empire Wind 1 project "without sufficient analysis".

The halt is a major blow to the US wind industry, which was championed by former President Joe Biden - but has been targeted heavily by President Trump.

In the days after his return to office, Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at the industry - including a temporary freeze on federal permits and loans for offshore and onshore wind projects.

"We're not going to do the wind thing," Trump said at the time, calling them "big, ugly windmills" that were dangerous to wildlife.

New York's governor, Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, described the halt of Empire Wind 1 as "federal overreach" and said she would fight it "every step of the way".

Equinor, the Norwegian company that is leading the Empire Wind project, said in a statement: "We have decided to stop offshore construction of the project following the order."

"We will engage with the administration to find out why the order was issued after we had received all the permits previously."

Equinor acquired a lease of the site from the federal government in 2017 and, according to its website, the project was set to deliver 810 MW of energy into Brooklyn, powering 500,000 homes.

Trump has previously claimed, without evidence, that wind turbines kill whales.

Before becoming president, he battled - and ultimately failed - to stop the construction of a wind farm off the coast of his golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.