Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction • Hacker News Board

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#311

Post by stainablesteel » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 1:57 PM UTC

flumpcakes wrote: post #244

This must be the best example of why China will overtake the US as the world's number 1 super power before 2050. I would link you to a white house press briefing from Biden https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases... but it has been taken down by Trumpists. Another irony. It's a shame that the US is being actively sabotaged by Republicans and Trumpists and people will continue on because saying th…

looking at wind as objectively as I can, it doesn't look like a good investment, and the environmental problems caused by putting these in the ocean are tragic to wildlife

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#312

Post by MichaelZuo » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

Gormo wrote: post #304

vvpan wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is largely why presidencies do not mess with the order they inherit too much (subjective statement I know). Most institutions and projects are not stressed and the government branches just keep doing what they always did. The current administration is an outlier, but we all know that.

More to the point, it's why our political system does not give unilateral control over most of this stuff to the executive branch. That's the reason why the courts are regularly ruling against the administration -- they're pretending to legal authority they don't have in the first place.

The fact that it’s possible at all to inject plausible doubt, for even a few weeks, means that counterparties will be much more wary.

They will simply have less goodwill when an American team is on the other side of the table, and give less benefit of the doubt. (as compared to say if a Swiss team is on the other side of the table)

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

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Post by JKCalhoun » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

igorramazanov wrote: post #136

If a country changes course every four years, how can the success of a long-term project be ensured? And what of its negotiating credibility? How can the other side trust that an agreement will hold in the future? This is not a critique, but a genuine curiosity, because there's an obvious drawback with a system with opposing world views. Unless, of course, something still unites them in the first place, with acceptab…

You attenuate the power of the presidency.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#314

Post by randomtoast » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

igorramazanov wrote: post #136

If a country changes course every four years, how can the success of a long-term project be ensured? And what of its negotiating credibility? How can the other side trust that an agreement will hold in the future? This is not a critique, but a genuine curiosity, because there's an obvious drawback with a system with opposing world views. Unless, of course, something still unites them in the first place, with acceptab…

> If a country changes course every four years, how can the success of a long-term project be ensured?

Simple. You begin constructing an offshore wind park when someone competent is president, pause the project for four years during Trump's term, and then resume work to complete it.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#315

Post by graemep » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

7952 wrote: post #282

graemep wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That could be a problem in itself. It certainly is here in the UK. If you have two parties that have much the same policies you do not get necessary change and voting becomes meaningless.

This applies to the UK particularly as a result of privatisation. Utilities, pensions and transport are completely dependant on previous government agreements that commit the public to long term expenses that sit outside tax. It takes debt of the government books, but also defuses responsibility. And becomes a necessary evil for getting anything done.

I do not think it is those big and visible privatisations of utilities and transport that are the real problem (I am not sure what you mean about pensions though).

The big problem is long term outsourcing contracts, that serves to get the debt off the government’s books. If anyone else did it they would be required to show the debt under off-balance sheet financing rules, but the government gets to set its own rules and gets away with hiding the real situation. Gordon Brown did a lot of this so he could pretend to have balanced the budget.

Apart from central government a lot of local authorities have done this too. Sheffield's notorious street management contract (the one that lead to cutting down huge numbers of trees) is a good example.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#316

Post by SecretDreams » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC

dominicrose wrote: post #248

SecretDreams wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dictatorships work as long as they're benevolent, much like democracies work as long as they aren't bought.

It depends what you mean by work. Technology - among a myriad of other things - enables the worst dictators to stay in power, even if the country as a whole doesn't work.

Work in my post was "work for the people".

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#317

Post by graemep » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

exe34 wrote: post #293

graemep wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its harder to implement change than to promise it, of course. However, historically it made a lot more difference which party was elected. In the UK in the 80s you knew that if you voted Labour things would bet nationalised, and if you voted Conservative things would get privatised. Since the centrist consensus (e.g. Blair and Cameron) emerged it makes a lot less difference. That, IMO, is evidence that what has chang…

any ideas why they might not wish to?

I think they have adopted a common ideology. The people in the parties have become more similar over the years, as have the voters they appeal too.

A few decades ago a very high proportion of Labour politicians were former trade union leaders, for example. Conservative voters tended to be more rural and more affluent.

Now a very high proportion are professional politicians who have never really done anything else. They are all people who have done well through the status quo and do not want to change anything.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#318

Post by koolba » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

Gormo wrote: post #304

vvpan wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is largely why presidencies do not mess with the order they inherit too much (subjective statement I know). Most institutions and projects are not stressed and the government branches just keep doing what they always did. The current administration is an outlier, but we all know that.

More to the point, it's why our political system does not give unilateral control over most of this stuff to the executive branch. That's the reason why the courts are regularly ruling against the administration -- they're pretending to legal authority they don't have in the first place.

> That's the reason why the courts are regularly ruling against the administration -- they're pretending to legal authority they don't have in the first place.

Lower courts. The track record of this administration at the SCOTUS is 90%.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#319

Post by PaulHoule » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC

smallmancontrov wrote: post #166

PaulHoule wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of people on "both sides" who choose their positions on the issues to fit their political party as opposed to choose the party that fits their positions. Particularly for an issue like offshore wind or Keystone XL that is basically "out of sight and out of mind" there are millions of people who would change their position if the right people told them to.

There it is, the both sides brigade, right on time! No, Keystone XL was not the same level of pettiness as offshore wind. Find me the IPCC report equivalent that makes the case for wind farms doing whatever social damage Trump says they do. I'll wait.

The difference is that the right wing version is

   stupid + stupid = consistent -> wins

(feels authentic to somebody even when it is completely disingenuous)

and the left wing version is

   smart + stupid = inconsistent -> loses

(feels demoralizing to the true believers, feels disingenuous to everyone else, see Kamala Harris) e.g. "woke" is really a left wing retread of right wing ideology, for instance that "defund the police" slogan cribs Reagan's "defund the left" slogan, because it is so exhausted it can only mine Thatcherism for ideas.

Re: Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction

#320

Post by diego_moita » Tue, Feb 03, 2026, 2:22 PM UTC

vvpan wrote: post #162

igorramazanov wrote: post #136

If a country changes course every four years, how can the success of a long-term project be ensured? And what of its negotiating credibility? How can the other side trust that an agreement will hold in the future? This is not a critique, but a genuine curiosity, because there's an obvious drawback with a system with opposing world views. Unless, of course, something still unites them in the first place, with acceptab…

Which is largely why presidencies do not mess with the order they inherit too much (subjective statement I know). Most institutions and projects are not stressed and the government branches just keep doing what they always did. The current administration is an outlier, but we all know that.

> The current administration is an outlier, but we all know that.

No, it isn't. This administration is a rupture. It is the beginning of a new normal. Future presidents will try to emulate this guy.

You could say "outlier" when he lost in 2020. You can't say that after he came back. The American people wants this authoritarian populism. The SCOTUS enables it. And the world shouldn't trust both the American people and its crumbling institutions.