Posted by John Donovan: 1 Feb 2025
In a move that surprises absolutely no one, Shell—the benevolent overlords of oil spills and carbon emissions—has decided to ghost a major offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey. Yes, the same Shell that rakes in billions poisoning the planet has decided clean energy isn’t worth the hassle. Shocking, right?
According to Shell, they’re ditching the Atlantic Shores project due to “increased competition, delays, and a changing market.” But wait, there’s more! Spokesperson Natalie Gunnell generously added, “Naturally we also take regulatory context into consideration.” Translation: “Trump made it easier to keep drilling, so why bother saving the Earth?”
The Atlantic Shores project, which Shell co-owns, was supposed to power 1 million homes—that’s a third of New Jersey households. But hey, who needs renewable energy when you can keep burning fossils, right? Shell’s partner, EDF-RE Offshore Development, claims they’re still committed to the project. But without Shell’s deep pockets, this project looks as “dead in the water” as Protect Our Coast NJ’s Robin Shaffer gleefully declared.
Let’s not forget the puppet master in this little drama: former President Donald Trump. On his very first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order that basically said, “Offshore wind? Over my dead Mar-a-Lago lawn.” The order paused all lease sales in federal waters, halted approvals and permits, and even directed officials to find reasons to terminate existing wind energy leases. Nothing says “energy independence” like clinging to the 19th century.
Meanwhile, New Jersey has this wild idea of generating 100% of its energy from clean sources by 2035. But with Shell and their fossil-fueled cronies—like BlackRock, one of Shell’s biggest investors—still pulling the strings, good luck with that.
Shell’s announcement comes as they report a “devastating” drop in earnings—from $28.3 billion to a mere $23.7 billion. How will they ever survive? Probably by laying off more workers while executives cash their bonuses. Because, you know, capitalism.
Of course, offshore wind isn’t cheap, and without strong policy support, investors like ING’s Coco Zhang admit it’s a tough sell. “The potential uncertainty that the executive order has brought to the market, it cannot be ignored,” she said. And Shell, ever the opportunist, decided uncertainty is a great excuse to keep polluting.
So, congratulations, Shell! You’ve once again proven that when choosing between saving the planet and padding your profit margins, you’ll always pick the latter.
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