Congress has a plan to stop Trump’s attack on offshore wind. It may not be enough.

The Trump administration has spent much of its second term delaying or canceling offshore wind and solar projects, even ones that already cleared federal review, often citing vague "national security" concerns. This week it moved to revoke permits for three Atlantic Coast wind farms, including Revolution Wind, a project off Rhode Island that is already up and running and supplying power.

In response, a bipartisan group of senators has worked out a deal called the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, meant to speed up permitting for all kinds of energy projects and make it harder for any president to block approved ones. If the government cancels a permit without good reason, the bill would let a court order it reinstated, and in some cases force the government to pay developers back 25 to 50 percent of project costs, or even the full cost if discrimination against a specific energy source (like wind) is proven. The goal is to make the U.S. look safer for the big companies that build offshore wind, since billions in investment have stalled under the current administration's attacks.

But critics say the bill may not actually stop the behavior it's designed to prevent. Trump has already been buying back wind leases in exchange for fossil fuel concessions, effectively paying to block projects anyway. And the bill's anti-discrimination rule is based on recent approval patterns that already favor oil and gas, making it hard for wind developers to prove unfair treatment. For homeowners in the Northeast, the outcome matters because the region still needs much more offshore wind to meet its electricity and heating needs. The bill won't get a vote until after the midterms.