A federal judge on Monday struck down an order by President Donald Trump that blocked the development of wind energy projects.
Trump issued the order, known as the “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects,” or the Wind Memo, on Jan. 20, 2025. The order directed federal agencies to halt new or renewed permits, leases, rights-of-way and other approvals for onshore and offshore wind energy projects pending the Trump administration’s review of federal wind policy.
Judge Patti Saris, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, struck down the agencies’ implementation of the memo, known as the Wind Order.
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Seventeen states, Washington, D.C., and Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY) filed the lawsuit, claiming the order violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
Saris agreed and ruled on Monday that the order was “arbitrary and capricious.” She also ruled that the freeze itself was “contrary to law,” saying that agencies are required to process permits within a reasonable amount of time.
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Saris stated in her order that federal agencies failed to offer an explanation for halting the permits beyond the enforcement of the presidential memo. Additionally, she wrote that the agencies did not meaningfully analyze relevant issues before implementing the freeze.
“This scant administrative record makes clear, and the agency defendants do not meaningfully dispute, that the agency defendants have not ‘reasonably considered the relevant issues and reasonably explained the[ir] decision’ to implement the Wind Order,” Saris wrote in her ruling. She added that the defendants “candidly concede that the sole factor they considered in deciding to stop issuing permits was the president’s direction to do so.”
Saris vacated the Wind Order in its entirety, effectively ending the nationwide freeze.
The White House defended Trump’s order in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Under Joe Biden’s Green New Scam, offshore wind projects were given unfair, preferential treatment while the rest of the energy industry was hindered by burdensome regulations,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said “President Trump’s day one executive order instructed agencies to review leases and permitting practices for wind projects with consideration for our country’s growing demands for reliable energy, effects on energy costs for American families, the importance of marine life and fishing industry, and the impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns. President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and unleashed America’s energy dominance to protect our economic and national security.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has butted heads with the president in the past, celebrated the judge’s ruling.
“We won our lawsuit and stopped the Trump administration from blocking an array of new wind energy projects. This is a big victory in our fight to keep tackling the climate crisis and protect one of our best sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” James wrote on X.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell also praised Saris’ ruling, saying, “This critical victory also preserves well-paying green jobs and access to reliable, affordable energy that will help Massachusetts meet our clean energy and climate goals.”
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