Clinton-nominated Judge Patti Saris ruled Monday to overturn President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order directing agencies to pause issuing new or renewed wind project permits pending a “comprehensive assessment.” [emphasis, links added]
Trump’s order paused new or renewed offshore wind leases across a wide swath of federal waters and called on several agencies led by the Department of the Interior to complete an assessment of wind projects’ environmental and economic impacts.
Saris ruled Monday that the “wind order” was illegal and vacated it.
“After review of the parties’ submissions and a hearing, the Court concludes that the Wind Order constitutes a final agency action that is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law,” Saris’s ruling reads. “Accordingly, the Court vacates the Wind Order and declares it unlawful.”
The Trump administration has issued work-stop orders and revoked permits for wind energy projects.
However, a Reagan-appointed judge overruled the administration’s work-stop order for the massive Revolution Wind project in September.
In contrast, the Biden administration pushed for wind and solar projects through billions in taxpayer subsidies, grants, and loans.
A spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Biden administration was skirting environmental reviews and “rubber-stamping” offshore wind projects.
Trump has repeatedly railed against wind energy, writing on Truth Social on Aug. 20 that “any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power [is] seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS. THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!”
White House Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the DCNF in a statement that “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.”
Read rest at Daily Caller
