President Donald Trump is no fan of so-called "green" and "renewable" energy production, particularly as derived from massive and unsightly onshore and offshore windmill farms, and he especially doesn't like it when U.S. taxpayer funds are wasted to finance such projects.

Likely with that in mind, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Friday that he had ended federal grants for a dozen "doomed" and "wasteful" offshore wind energy projects that combined were slated to cost taxpayers up to $679 million, according to Breitbart.

The secretary noted that, where possible, the grant funds for those projects would be redirected toward bolstering the nation's shipbuilding capacity and port infrastructure or to further utilize and produce more traditional and natural energy resources.

"Prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects"

In a Friday press release, Secretary Duffy revealed that he had authorized the withdrawal or termination of a total of $679 million in discretionary federal grant funding for "12 doomed offshore wind projects across America."

That money would instead be redirected, where possible, to "address critical port upgrades and other core infrastructure needs" across the U.S., as part of the Trump administration's broader refocus of the Department and its Maritime Administration on restoring the nation's shipbuilding capacity, "unleashing more reliable, traditional forms of energy, and utilizing the nation’s bountiful natural resources to unleash American energy."

Duffy said in a statement, "Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry."

Referencing the prior president along with his predecessor at the Transportation Department, he continued, "Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use Transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry."

The secretary added, "Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little."

Two-thirds of a billion saved for taxpayers

The press release noted that, following a review of the Transportation Department's discretionary grant program, including all obligated and unobligated projects, a total of 12 offshore wind grants and projects, collectively totaling approximately $679 million, were identified that were not aligned with the president's goals and priorities.

Roughly two-thirds of that total, or about $427 million, came from just one project, Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind, which was subsequently withdrawn from the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA) program.

The remaining 11 projects were part of the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP), and of those, six were withdrawn and five were terminated, saving taxpayers around $177 million and $75 million, respectively.

Different priorities for different administrations

Breitbart noted that, under the prior Biden administration, wind energy projects were highly prioritized, and billions of taxpayer dollars were steered toward such projects, particularly via funds appropriated for discretionary grants by Congress in the deceptively named Inflation Reduction Act.

The opposite has been true under the current Trump administration, where wind energy projects have not only been deprioritized and disfavored but also targeted for cancellation.

Indeed, on President Trump's first day in office, he issued an executive order that withdrew the entirety of the nation's Outer Continental Shelf from consideration for offshore wind energy project leasing, and also ordered an administration-wide review of all leasing and permitting for all other onshore and offshore wind energy projects, several of which have since been terminated or withdrawn.