- Office of the Attorney General
Media Contact
Allie Zuliani, Deputy Press Secretary
Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a coalition of 18 attorneys general today won their lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful order to freeze all federal permitting of wind energy projects.
In May, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to indefinitely halt all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. Today, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated those actions, ruling that they were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.
“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,” said AG Campbell. “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.”
On January 20, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum that, among other things, indefinitely froze all federal approvals needed for the development of wind energy projects pending federal review. Pursuant to this directive, federal agencies stopped all permitting and approval activities.
In their lawsuit, the attorneys general 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. The agencies’ actions also threatened to thwart billions of dollars of states’ investments in wind industry infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce development.
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 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.
In 2022, Massachusetts passed a law to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions statewide by 2050, in part through the development of renewable energy projects like wind energy. So far, the Commonwealth has three different offshore wind projects in various stages of development which, once constructed, will produce enough electricity to power 1.4 million homes. The Commonwealth also plans to procure additional wind energy to meet its clean energy goals. AG Campbell and the coalition’s victory protects these projects as well as the future of the state’s long-term energy reliability and affordability.
AG Campbell co-led this matter with the attorney general of New York, and was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington in filing this lawsuit.
###
Media Contact
