BOSTON – A federal judge has thrown out an order from President Trump blocking the development of wind energy.
They said the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law.
Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s January 20th executive order. Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states, including Massachusetts, which challenged Trump’s Day One order pausing leasing and permitting for wind energy projects.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell hailed the ruling as a victory for green jobs and renewable energy.
“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 in a statement.
The coalition that opposed Trump’s order argued that Trump doesn’t have the authority to halt project permitting, and that doing so jeopardizes the states’ economies, energy mix, public health and climate goals.
The coalition includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state and Washington, D.C. They say they’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars collectively to develop wind energy and even more on upgrading transmission lines to bring wind energy to the electrical grid.
A White House spokesperson said Monday night that offshore wind projects were given unfair, preferential treatment during the Biden administration while the rest of the energy industry was hindered by burdensome regulations.
The government argued that the states’ claims amount to nothing more than a policy disagreement over preferences for wind versus fossil fuel energy development that is outside the federal court’s jurisdiction. Justice Department lawyer Michael Robertson said in court that the wind order paused permitting, but didn’t halt it, while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reviews the environmental impact of wind projects.
Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and prioritizes fossil fuels to produce electricity. Wind is the United States’ largest source of renewable energy, providing about 10 percent of the electricity generated in the nation, according to the American Clean Power Association.
Story by The Associated Press
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