Trump likes coal, but that doesn’t mean he’s hostile to wind

BOSTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has courted coal miners and pushed for offshore oil drilling, but his administration is also vowing to help develop renewable offshore wind energy projects.

Using federal leases, wind power projects along the East Coast are pressing ahead with the goal of transforming the electric grid and providing energy to power millions of homes.

They include projects off the coasts of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia and New York.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said wind energy — particularly offshore wind — will play a greater role in sustaining American energy dominance in the future.

Environmental activists are supporting the march toward offshore wind power. But they caution that developers need to make sure they don’t harm underwater ecosystems including the endangered North Atlantic right whale.