Seventeen states continued the Trump administration on Monday for the stopping of permits for wind energy projects, arguing that its actions constituted an existential threat to the emerging industry.
“This administration is devastating of one of the sources of clean, reliable and affordable energy in our country,” said Prosecutor General Letitia James in New York, who is one of the complainants. She said that the judgment threatened “the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of investments” and “delays our transition far from fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet”.
The federal permits for wind energy was presented for the first time in an executive decree of January 20, one of a dam that President Trump immediately signed when he took office. He ordered agencies to arrest all permits for wind farms pending the federal examination.
The trial Said that by complying, federal agencies have endangered major investments that have already been endangered. The order also asked the Prosecutor General of the United States and the interior secretary to explore “the termination or modification of existing leases in wind farms, which further increases uncertainty for companies.
The wind industry provides around 10% of the country's electricity and offers many new projects under development, in particular in large plains and the Atlantic Ocean.
Last month, the Trump administration interrupted a large wind farm under construction off the coast of Long Island, the Empire Wind project. It was designed to provide enough electricity to supply half a million houses. He had already received the permits he needed, but the interior secretary Doug Burgum suggested that the analysis of the Biden administration during the approval process was precipitated and insufficient.
James noted that Trump had also declared an energy emergency. Energy experts called this overestimated statement. However, she said, the moratorium on wind permits is to harm the ability to provide a new source of energy.
New York also has a new law on books, which required to considerably increase the amount of electricity from renewable sources. To reach this goal will become more complicated without sources of wind.
The trial, by 17 states and Washington, DC, appoints many officials and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department. The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Taylor Rogers, spokesperson for the White House, accused the Democratic prosecutor who continued his use of “Lawfare” to thwart the president's energy agenda. “Americans of the Blue States should not have to pay the price of the radical climate program of democrats,” she said.
The Interior Department declared in a press release that it was determined to “supervise the land and public waters for the benefit of all Americans, while prioritizing the tax responsibility of the American people”.
The trial, filed with the Federal Court of Massachusetts, asks a judge to prevent federal agencies from taking measures to block the development of wind energy and to declare the illegal executive decree.
“The Trump administration directive to stop the development of offshore wind energy is illegal,” said Rob Bonta, the California prosecutor.
His office said federal policy “would derail the transition of clean energy” and would result in higher costs for the Americans. In addition to the Oshore wind sites, the state has five federal offshore wind leases, the office said. Offshore operations are more complicated and expensive to use.
Timothy Fox, managing director of Clearview Energy Partners, a consulting company in Washington, said that he expected the trial to be faced with a climb to convince the court to block the decree. The “scenario the best of cases” of the company for the offshore wind industry is that the facilities that already work, or in development, can continue without opposition from the Trump administration, he said.
