Trump administration will reconsider SouthCoast Wind Permit, a legal filing states

According to a court filing on Tuesday, the Trump administration will review the permit for SouthCoast Wind. This is an offshore wind farm in Massachusetts that was approved last year by the former U.S. president Joe Biden's government.

Attorneys for the Department of Justice stated in a motion filed on Friday at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the Interior Department intends to reconsider the approval of SouthCoast Wind’s construction and operation plan.

The move is part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to slow down the development of offshore energy. He claims that it is unreliable, expensive, and ugly.

The DOJ filed a motion earlier this year in a suit brought by the island of Nantucket (Massachusetts) challenging the approval of the project. It is planned to be 20 miles (32.2km) off the coast. A turbine failure in an offshore wind farm last year caused debris to wash onto Nantucket's beaches.

The administration requested more time in its filing to respond to Nantucket’s complaint, as it was planning to ask the court for the decision to be sent back to the agency no later than September 18,

SouthCoast Wind representatives were not immediately available to comment. In a filing dated September 1, the company opposed the government’s motion for a delay.

In a filing, attorneys for SouthCoast Wind stated that "this delay and the upcoming request for remand is simply pretexts to the President's unabashed desire to eliminate all offshore projects regardless of their impact."

Ocean Winds is developing the project, a joint-venture between EDP Renewables (EDP) and ENGIE. (Reporting and editing by Richard Chang; Nichola Groom)

(source: Reuters)