The judge who declared President Trump’s blocking of offshore wind unlawful will likely wait to see what the administration does before taking enforcement action, one of the plaintiffs said.
Marguerite Wells, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, said that if the Trump administration does not resume considering wind energy permits, the judge could put federal agencies on a timeline to act.
“My understanding is that the judge is taking a wait-and-see approach, where we're going to see whether the federal agencies comply with her order,” she said. If they don’t, the judge could take action. “But if they go ahead and get back to business, then there's nothing further she needs to do.”
Massachusetts was one of 17 states, along with the District of Columbia, to sue the Trump administration in May over a memorandum the president issued the same day he took office for his second term. The memo halted all wind leasing and permitting, for both offshore and onshore wind facilities, pending a review of leasing and permitting practices.
The Alliance for Clean Energy New York, an interest group composed of private companies and nonprofit organizations, later joined the states as a plaintiff.
Last week in Boston, U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris ruled that Trump’s Jan. 20 memo conflicted with the legal obligation to decide on permits within a reasonable time under the Administrative Procedure Act.
In addition, she said federal agencies have provided no information about when a review of leasing and permitting would be complete.
Plaintiffs say a final order in the case is forthcoming, possibly by the end of the year, but enforcement would be a separate action.
The Trump administration has the opportunity to appeal.
After the judge’s decision last week, multiple news outlets reported that the White House responded with a written statement from spokesperson Taylor Rogers, saying offshore wind had received “unfair, preferential treatment” under the Biden administration, “while the rest of the energy industry was hindered by burdensome regulations.”
