National security concerns with Virginia Wind have been documented by the Navy for years
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 22, 2025) – A group of public interest organizations involved in an ongoing lawsuit to stop construction of the massive Virginia offshore wind project are applauding the U.S. Department of Interior’s decision to pause construction of the project in order to assess national security concerns. The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project is located 25 miles off the coast of Norfolk, VA, which is home to the largest military complex in the United States.
On Monday, the Trump administration halted the construction of the CVOW as well as four other wind projects on the East Coast “in order to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.”
The U.S. Navy has issued a series of classified reports over the last decade criticizing offshore wind for their potential to compromise national security and hamper military readiness and operations, arguing that most of the waters off Norfolk were, for those reasons, unsuitable for offshore wind development. Notwithstanding these concerns, the Obama and Biden administrations overrode military objections and forced the Department of Defense (now Department of War) to sign off on the construction of CVOW and the other offshore industrial wind projects now under review and on hold.
In 2024, The Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) , and the National Legal and Policy Center NLPC) sued the Biden administration to halt construction of Virginia Wind, citing harm to the North Atlantic right whale among other environmental concerns. That case is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The following comments may be used for attribution. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jim Lakely, executive vice president and director of communications at the Heartland Institute at [email protected] or call/text 312-731-9364.
“We applaud the Trump administration for recognizing the obvious national security concerns caused by the construction of massive wind turbines in the middle of largest military complex in the U.S. We know that over the last decade the Navy has issued numerous classified reports objecting to the construction of Virginia Wind at its present location. We also know that despite these objections, the Biden administration strong-armed the military into accepting this project. Now that this scandal has been exposed, we trust the Trump administration will insist that the project either be cancelled or modified so extensively that it poses no threat to military preparedness.”
Craig Rucker
President
CFACT
[email protected]
“The CVOW and the other wind facilities at issue are dangerous boondoggles, posing a clear and present danger to U.S. national security, in addition to endangering protected marine mammals. There is no economic justification for CVOW. The power it provides will compromise the electric power grid while causing electric prices to skyrocket.
“Only Dominion Energy and the politicians it has backed benefit from CVOW. Virginia ratepayers and the nation as a whole will be harmed if this project is not permanently halted. The Trump administration should be congratulated for finally placing national security above green energy zealotry.”
H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D.
Director
Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
“National security is not negotiable. It is gratifying that the Trump administration is finally recognizing the long-standing US Navy objections to offshore wind and its clear threat to national security interests. Green energy ideology cannot be allowed to compromise military preparedness. If the Obama and Biden administrations had only listened to military objections, this problem would never have occurred in the first place. It is time for these boondoggles to end.”
Paul Kamenar
Counsel
National Legal Policy Center (NLCP)
[email protected]
The Heartland Institute is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1984 and headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our website or call 312/377-4000.
