States prevail over Trump attacks on wind energy development

Attorney General Nick Brown and a coalition of 18 attorneys general Monday won their lawsuit against the Trump administration’s unlawful order to freeze the development of wind energy projects. 

In May, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to indefinitely halt all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. Monday, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated those actions, ruling that they were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.

“We can’t unleash American energy by kneecapping some of the fastest growing, most innovative, and cleanest resources in the country,” Brown said in May upon joining the lawsuit. “Without a robust clean energy economy, we will see worsening climate change, more expensive energy from toxic fossil fuels, fewer jobs, and fewer solutions to our greatest challenges.”

Wind energy is a homegrown source of reliable, affordable energy that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, creates billions of dollars in economic activity and tax payments, and supplies more than 10% of the country’s electricity.

The indefinite halt on project approvals threatened Washington’s ability to meet its greenhouse gas emissions requirements and renewable energy commitments. It also threatened an increasingly important part of Washington’s economy. Washington has enacted multiple state laws encouraging the deployment of affordable, clean renewable energy like that from wind.

Wind power is the second largest contributor to Washington’s renewable energy generation after hydroelectric power. In 2024, Washington generated 8,421 Megawatt hours from wind power alone. In contrast to fossil fuels, which are often subject to volatile market conditions, wind power enhances Washington’s energy security and economic stability.

The coalition argued that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the agencies, among other things, provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals. The lawsuit also argued that the abrupt halt on all permitting violated numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals—procedures the administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind-energy development altogether.

Brown was joined in this lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York, by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island.  

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