USA
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a coalition of 18 attorneys general today celebrated the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s dismissal of the Trump Administration’s appeal of the states’ victory in their lawsuit challenging the federal government’s unlawful order to freeze all federal permitting for wind energy projects.
“Massachusetts has directed hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind development, and the court correctly protected those critical investments from the Trump Administration’s unlawful order,” said AG Campbell.
“I’m glad that the federal government has dropped its appeal of our victory and that court has formally dismissed it, which will preserve well-paying clean energy jobs and ensure access to reliable, affordable energy as Massachusetts continues to advance its climate goals.”
On January 20, 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 May, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging those actions, and in December, 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. The federal government appealed that ruling but subsequently decided to drop that appeal. Today, the Court entered a judgment dismissing the appeal and cementing the states’ victory.
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 electricity demand, 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, and the court agreed, that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act because, among other things, the agencies provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals.
In 2022, Massachusetts passed a law to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the state by 2050. This will be partly achieved through the development of renewable energy projects, such as wind farms. So far, the Commonwealth has multiple offshore wind projects in various stages of permitting and development, including the recently completed Vineyard Wind project, which generates energy off Massachusetts’s shores. Once all are constructed, these projects 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 protect 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.
