A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from enforcing a set of permit policies that wind and solar industry groups argued were obstructing the development of new power generation projects.
Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston granted a preliminary injunction sought by nine advocacy groups and industry associations. These groups contended that the administration had erected illegal barriers that had brought wind and solar project development to a standstill across the nation. The judge stated that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in proving that the U.S. Department of the Interior and other agencies had enacted a series of illegal policies, causing renewable energy developers to cancel or delay numerous wind and solar projects nationwide. Her ruling applies to the members of the plaintiff organizations, which include groups such as RENEW Northeast and the New York Clean Energy Alliance.
In a joint statement, the organizations said, "This is an undeniable victory for our coalition's members, for the entire clean energy industry, and for American families and businesses." The Department of the Interior stated in a release that while it does not comment on litigation, "the United States sets the standard for global energy production."
This ruling is the latest in a series of judicial rebukes of the Trump administration's attempts to block federal approvals for wind projects or halt work on billions of dollars worth of offshore wind farms under construction along the East Coast. The Republican president, who campaigned on the slogan "drill, baby, drill," has consistently sought to increase government support for fossil fuels and maximize their production in the U.S., the world's largest producer of oil and gas. On Monday, citing the Defense Production Act, Trump signed a series of energy-related presidential memoranda aimed at further boosting output of oil, coal, and natural gas, citing the need for "defense preparedness."
Organizations supporting wind and solar power filed the lawsuit last December in an attempt to halt the administration's actions, arguing that they relegated wind and solar technologies to what their attorneys called a "regulatory second-class status." These actions included policies adopted in a July memorandum from the Interior Department, which required that nearly every step of the wind and solar permitting process receive approval from three senior politically appointed officials, including the Secretary of the Interior. The memorandum cited directives and executive orders signed by Trump aimed at blocking offshore wind development and instructing the Interior Department to eliminate "preferences" for "expensive and unreliable energy sources such as wind and solar."
The plaintiffs argued that this policy created a bottleneck that stalled approvals and was adopted without stating any necessary justification, violating the Administrative Procedure Act. Judge Casper, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed, noting that none of the directives cited by the department explained or justified this three-tiered review process. She also blocked policies that the plaintiffs argued disadvantaged "high-capacity density" energy projects (into which category wind and solar projects would fall), as well as the Interior Department's adoption of stricter standards for offshore wind projects through its interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
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