Federal Judges Strike Down Trump Efforts, Clearing the Way for Offshore Wind Projects to Resume

Federal judges have struck down the Trump Administration’s halting three of five major offshore wind projects which had been stopped on spurious assertions of a threat to national defense. The orders came from three different federal District Court judges, allowing three delayed projects to re-start construction work.

Three Judges, Three Projects

First, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume construction, saying that the federal government had provided insufficient basis for its latest stop-work order against the project. Attorney Janice Schneider, representing Revolution Wind, said the stop work order came at a critical stage of construction, with the project nearly 90% built and weeks away from beginning to deliver power to the electric grid. She said the delay is costing more than $1.4 million per day, and a specialized vessel has just enough time now to install the remaining turbines before its contract for work at this site expires in February. 

Next, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols ruled that construction on the Empire Wind project off New York could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul applauded Judge Nichols’ decision, telling reporters the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.”

Finally last week, a third federal District Court judge, this one in Virginia, said that Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project could resume construction. 

Trump’s Case Appears Weak

Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond Law School professor who has been following the lawsuits, said all three judges essentially concluded that the government did not show that any national security risk is so imminent that a stop-work order is justified. Instead, “They concluded that Trump’s effort to halt the important, but costly, projects lacked support and would injure the entities building them, so the projects must be permitted to proceed.” 

No one at this point is projecting that these decisions will be the final word on the five challenged projects. However, they provide a solid indication that federal judges are finding the government’s cases and claims to be weak. Stay tuned for more news in Trump’s irrational War on Wind. 

Read more on the backstory and how states and investors are fighting for cleaner energy.