Federal Judge Rules Against Trump’s January Order Halting Wind Energy Development
A federal judge on Monday sided with 18 state attorneys general who challenged the Trump administration’s halt on the federal permitting of all wind energy projects.
U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts Patti Saris said in her ruling that the “Wind Order constitutes a final agency action that is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.”
On Jan. 20, his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order halting all onshore and offshore wind leases and permits. The order barred the heads of all relevant agencies from issuing “new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”
The order also withdrew all areas of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf for wind energy leasing and said the government would no longer consider “any area in the OCS” for the wind generation, including “any new or renewed energy leasing.” Other leasing activity, including oil, gas, minerals and environmental conservation were unaffected.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell along with attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and the District of Columbia challenged the executive order, initially filing a lawsuit in May. In July, another judge denied the motion, but attorneys general filed a motion for a summary judgment, which was ruled on by Saris on Monday.
The AGs alleged that the federal agencies’ actions harmed their states’ efforts “to secure reliable, diversified, and affordable sources of energy to meet their increasing demand for electricity and help reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants, meet clean energy goals, and address climate change,” according to a news release from the Massachusetts AG’s office.
“The coalition argued that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the agencies, among other things, provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals,” the news release added. “The lawsuit also argued that the abrupt halt on all permitting violated numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals–procedures the Administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind-energy development altogether.”
Massachusetts lawmakers passed legislation in 2022 that would require its statewide emissions to be net-zero greenhouse gas by 2050, with renewable energy projects such as wind energy playing a role in the goal. To date, there are three offshore wind projects being developed that could power as many as 1.4 million homes, the Massachusetts AG’s office said in the release.
“Massachusetts has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind, and today, we successfully protected those important investments from the Trump administration’s unlawful order,” Campbell said. “This critical victory also preserves well-paying green jobs and access to reliable, affordable energy that will help Massachusetts meet our clean energy and climate goals.”
Reporting by Jeremy Rakes, jrakes@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com