US Judge rejects Trump Administration's decision to stop wind energy permits

Federal judge ruled on Monday that U.S. president Donald Trump's administration failed to justify their decision to suspend the issuing of leases and permits to new "wind" projects in accordance with Republican President's wishes.

U.S. District judge Patti Saris, in Boston, sided with 17 Democratic-led States and the District of Columbia when she found that agencies failed to adequately explain why they had halted federal approvals of all wind-energy project indefinitely.

Saris, a Democratic president Bill Clinton appointee, stated that a permanent halt to issuing or denial of all authorizations for wind projects violated a statute requiring agencies to "resolve matters" presented to them within a "reasonable time."

The U.S. The U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce, as well as Environmental Protection Agency were implementing a Trump directive he made on his first official day in office. This was to stop offshore wind lease sales as well as stop issuing permits and leases for both onshore- and offshore-wind projects.

In a'social media post, Letitia James of the New York Attorney-General, a Democrat whose?state led the?legal case, called the decision "a big win in our fight to continue tackling the climate crises".

Interior Department officials and White House 'officials' were not available to comment immediately.

A trade group for offshore wind energy welcomed the ruling.

"Overturning this unlawful blanket halt on offshore wind permitting is necessary to achieve our nation’s energy and economic goals of bringing more electricity online quickly, improving grid stability, and driving new billions of dollars of American steel manufacturing.

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Oceantic Network's CEO Liz Burdock made the following statement:

Trump, who ran for president on the slogan "Drill, baby drill", has aimed to increase government support for fossil energy and maximize output.

In May, the states, led in part by New York sued after the Interior Department ordered Norway's Equinor?to halt construction of its Empire Wind offshore project off the coasts of New York.

The states claim that the administration has allowed the work on Empire Wind resumed, but the wider pause in permitting and leasing is continuing to have negative economic effects.

States said that the agencies implementing Trump’s?order did not explain why they abruptly changed long-standing policies supporting wind energy. States said that the agencies "also deviated from government findings" that wind energy projects could be implemented with minimal negative effects on the environment.

Saris said that she agreed with the policy, stating that it "represents a significant change in direction from decades of agencies issuing or denying permits for wind energy projects." She claimed that the agencies had never given a rationale for the change.

Saris wrote: "In fact, the Agency Defendants openly admit that the only factor they considered when deciding to cease issuing permits was President Obama's directive to do so." (Reporting from Nichola Groom, Los Angeles; and Nate Raymond, Boston; editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry.)

(source: Reuters)