Against the wind: despite Trump’s attacks, unions are fighting for good US clean energy jobs

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Aug 23, 2026 · 2053 words · By Dharna Noor

Political Polarization of Climate Policy Economic Impact of Offshore Wind Labor Rights in Green Energy

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What to know about Political Polarization of Climate Policy

Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.

Claims checked 17

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage

Left17%

Center83%

Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Ryan McElroen had spent years repairing the New York City subway underground when he got the opportunity to work in the middle of the ocean.

Why it matters

“I had no views other than the darkness at work,” he said.

Common ground

“Then I went polar opposite.” Two years ago, McElroen began being trained by his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, for a job in the emerging offshore wind industry.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Pity, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Political Polarization of Climate Policy story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that ordering work on Empire Wind to halt in April 2025, then targeting Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Connecticut in August, and in December ordering a stop to New York’s Sunrise and Empire Wind, Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind, and Virginia’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind?
How does this story connect Political Polarization of Climate Policy with Economic Impact of Offshore Wind over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/wind-energy-unions-trump

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Pity 80% confidence

Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pity helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 17 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 7

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “ordering work on Empire Wind to halt in April 2025, then targeting Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Connecticut in August, and in December ordering a stop to New York’s Sunrise and Empire Wind, Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind and Revolution Wind, and Virginia’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 2: “The CJNRC has origins in New York after Hurricane Sandy.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including the CJNRC's own site, the MacArthur Foundation, and The Guardian, confirm that the organization's origins trace back to New York following Hurricane Sandy.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Climate security (also referred to as climate, peace and security) is a political and policy framework that looks at the impacts of climate on peace and security. Climate security often refers to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_security

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Laurene Powell Jobs (née Powell; born November 6, 1963) is an American entrepreneur, business executive and philanthropist. She is the founder and president of Emerson Collective, lead investor and ch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurene_Powell_Jobs

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is an initiative within the U.S. federal government focused on climate change science, formed under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The U.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Climate_Assessment

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “In 2021, Climate Jobs New York played a key role in securing strong labor and equity provisions for renewable energy, including prevailing wage and project labor agreement requirements for large projects, as well as labor peace agreements”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that Climate Jobs New York/labor movements secured prevailing wage, project labor agreements (PLAs), and labor peace agreements for renewable energy projects in New York.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — They require prevailing wage and project labor agreements for construction on renewable-energy projects and labor peace agreements for operations and maintenance work.[11].
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2022-06-13/unions-making-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The New York labor movement has fought and secured strong labor standards for offshore wind and large-scale renewable energy projects here in New York, and now we need to establish strong standards at…
https://www.climatejobsny.org/ny-bight

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The state also agreed to have project labor agreements for the turbine work before workers are hired that set the terms and conditions of employment and help avoid strikes.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/16/new-york-cli…

schedule

Claim 4: “Donald Trump was re-elected in 2024.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “the legislature enshrined the target in the landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) was passed in 2019 and included the 9 GW offshore wind target.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — C40 Cities (formerly C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group) is a group of 96 cities that represents more than ten percent of the world's population and 23 percent of the global economy. Created and led …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cap-and-Invest is a proposed government policy of the State of New York. It would combine a carbon emissions trading program (commonly known as cap-and-trade) with a set of climate change policies fun…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-and-Invest_(New_York_state…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Climate change in New York City could affect buildings and infrastructure, wetlands, water supply, public health, and energy demand, due to the high population and extensive infrastructure in the regi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_New_York_Cit…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 6: “In 2022, he signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provided powerful new incentives for clean-energy projects to meet prevailing-wage and apprenticeship requirements”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results provided for this claim are irrelevant (spam/adult content) and do not provide any information regarding the Inflation Reduction Act.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Kumpulan bokep indo terbaru dan viral. Nonton streaming full HD, update setiap hari, no sensor. Temukan video bokep indonesia terlengkap di sini.
https://kangenbokep.com/category/bokep-indo/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Bokep Indo Viral terbaru di PasarBokep. Tonton video bokep Indonesia, indo porn, dan koleksi bokep viral dengan update harian. Tersedia 4072 video yang bisa ditonton gratis.
https://pasarbokep.co/category/bokep-indo-viral

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Bokep Indo terbaru & hot di IndoBokep! Streaming Bokep Indo gratis, update harian. Nonton Bokep Indo HD, bokep viral, & adegan panas 2026.
https://indobokep.asia/category/bokep-indo

schedule

Claim 7: “courts blocked each of the stop-work orders and each project has continued.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 8: “Vineyard Wind is now completed and fully operational, while Revolution Wind began sending power to the grid in March. Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind is also progressing and began generating power for the first time in March.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 9: “This year, the administration spent $2.7bn in taxpayer dollars to cancel 12 offshore wind leases in five deals with developers.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 10: “by the end of 2024, the CJNRC group had helped launch coalitions of unions in nine states”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify the number of state coalitions launched by the CJNRC by the end of 2024.

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Claim 11: “in 2019, the then governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, adopted the coalition’s ambitious vision, committing the state to building that much offshore wind capacity by 2035”

CORROBORATED

The claim that Governor Andrew Cuomo committed New York to 9 GW of offshore wind by 2035 in 2019 is confirmed by both The Guardian and a specific news report on Cuomo's State of the State address.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The governor of New York is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_New_York

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The li…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Governor_of_New_Yor…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York, the head of the executive branch of New York's state government, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military fo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_New_York

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 12: “Two years ago, McElroen began being trained by his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, for a job in the emerging offshore wind industry.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific detail about Ryan McElroen's training timeline and union (IBEW Local 3) is only explicitly confirmed by The Guardian. Other sources mention the union or the industry generally but do not corroborate the specific 'two years ago' timeline for this individual.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Still, BloombergNEF’s 2035 capacity projection for U.S. offshore wind has collapsed from 39 gigawatts to just 6, even as workers like McElroen plan their careers around an industry whose future looks …
https://impakter.com/unions-fight-clean-energy-jobs-trump/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Two years ago, McElroen began being trained by his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, for a job in the emerging offshore wind industry.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/wind-energy-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Federal legislation under the Biden administration supported these environmentalist and pro-labor goals, but the Trump administration has gone out of its way to undo some of this progress. Local 3, th…
https://www.local3ibew.org/news/climate-jobs-labor-coalition…

schedule

Claim 13: “In 2025, the administration also moved to accelerate the phaseout of the IRA’s clean-electricity tax credits for wind and solar projects.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 14: “By September 2024, his administration had approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects totaling more than 15 gigawatts.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify the number of approved projects or the total gigawatts as of September 2024.

check_circle

Claim 15: “In 2020, Fishman and other labor leaders formed the CJNRC”

CORROBORATED

The formation of the CJNRC in 2020 is independently confirmed by the MacArthur Foundation and the ILR School.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Now the Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC) supports the coalition and similar labor efforts around the U.S. It was established in 2020 inspired by key principles from CJNY.
https://www.macfound.org/press/grantee-stories/creating-job-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Building on the success of Climate Jobs New York to win significant climate investments in offshore wind infrastructure and strong labor protections and labor standards, the Climate Jobs National Reso…
https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/climate-jobs-institute/about

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Workers are hit first and worst, and families are struggling as costs skyrocket. We need to make life more affordable. for working families: create good union jobs, lower bills, and build more reliabl…
https://www.cjnrc.org/

info

Claim 16: “he has completed six one-month-long rotations constructing New York’s first large-scale offshore wind projects: four on Sunrise Wind, roughly 30 miles (48km) east of Montauk Point, and two on Empire Wind in the New York Bight, 30 miles south of Long Island.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific number of rotations (six) and the distribution between Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind for Ryan McElroen is only reported by The Guardian. While other sources confirm the existence and locations of these projects, they do not corroborate the individual's work history.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The second is called the Sunrise Wind Project and start 30 miles east of Montauk Point in eastern Suffolk County on Long Island. It would have 82 wind turbines if 10 megawatt turbines are used.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/07/the-promise-of-offsh…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Since then, he has completed six one-month-long rotations constructing New York’s first large-scale offshore wind projects: four on Sunrise Wind, roughly 30 miles (48km) east of Montauk Point, and two…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/23/wind-energy-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Empire Wind 1 project is also projected to be fully operational in 2027.The 810-MW project, some 15 miles south of Jones Beach State Park in Long Island, is owned by Equinor ASA. The project will …
https://www.euci.com/u-s-offshore-wind-sector-has-a-few-proj…

schedule

Claim 17: “When Trump was re-elected, market researchers with BloombergNEF projected the US would bring 39 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity online by 2035; its October projections put that figure at just 6 gigawatts”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.