NYS, 17 others to sue over Trump administration halt to wind energy projects

Attorneys general from 18 states, including New York, filed suit Monday seeking to roll back the Trump administration's halt of wind-energy projects across the country, including one already begun off Long Island's South Shore.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who co-leads the coalition, in a statement called the Trump executive order that put a halt on the projects, including Empire Wind off the coast of Long Beach, "arbitrary and unnecessary." 

Trump in the weeks after taking office put a hold on the issuing of all new permits for wind projects on land and offshore, and called for reviews of the permitting and leasing processes for wind power. 

Last month, the Department of the Interior called for a halt to work on Empire Wind, saying federal agencies would review the environmental approvals for that project, which had already received all needed federal approvals and was about to begin offshore construction. Equinor last week said the pause could cost it billions of dollars, according to a report in Reuters.

Separately last week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a post on X threatened to end federal subsidies for offshore wind, saying, "American tax dollars will no longer be wasted on intermittent and costly Green New Deal wind projects." Newsday reported that Equinor is considering "legal remedies" to restart the Empire project.

James and the other attorneys general said the Trump orders to stall projects have been damaging.

"This [Trump] administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy," James said in a statement released before the suit was filed. "This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet."

In a response, the Trump administration charged that the attorneys general, "instead of working with President Trump to unleash American energy and lower prices for American families," are "using lawfare to stop the President’s popular energy agenda." The statement from Trump spokesman Taylor Rogers added, "The American people voted for the president to restore America’s energy dominance, and Americans in blue states should not have to pay the price of the Democrats’ radical climate agenda."

The suit asserts Trump is "acting outside of his legal authority and has no statutory right to unilaterally shut down the permitting process," according to a statement from James' office. The case, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, requests court intervention to "immediately restore the wind energy permitting process, both temporarily while the litigation proceeds, and permanently to protect the wind-energy industry long term."

Trump has long been a critic of wind energy, blaming it for everything from "driving whales crazy" to killing birds and causing cancer. He famously fought a wind farm near one of his Scottish golf courses.

The attorneys general who brought the case say their states have a responsibility to "meet increasing electricity demand while also mitigating climate harms and reducing pollution brought on by fossil fuels."

In New York, James said, the "blockade" was impeding the state's climate goals enshrined in a law known as the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, a 2019 measure that calls for a 100% emission-free energy grid by 2040. It was also stalling the Empire Wind project, which Equinor says is one-third complete and slated to bring its 800-plus megawatts of offshore wind via 54 turbines 14 miles from Long Beach to a substation in Brooklyn.

"The administration’s blockade would derail key projects already under development, many of which are expected to power millions of homes and support tens of thousands of jobs," James' statement said.

In addition to New York and Massachusetts, the states that brought the case are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and the District of Columbia. The suit is being co-led by the attorney general of Massachusetts.

In addition to Trump, the complaint lists as defendants EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Burgum at the Interior Department, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Walter Cruickshank, who heads the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which issues permits for the projects. A BOEM spokeswoman declined to comment on litigation.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.