Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Effort To Rein In Wind And Solar Expansion

A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of several federal policies affecting wind and solar energy development, siding with industry groups that argued the measures unlawfully delayed projects across the country. [some emphasis, links added]

Chief U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration could not enforce a series of permitting requirements and related policies that renewable energy advocates said had stalled or canceled projects nationwide.

Casper concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their claims that agencies, including the Department of the Interior, adopted unlawful procedures that created bottlenecks in the approval process.

The ruling applies to members of nine advocacy organizations and trade groups, including RENEW Northeast and the Alliance for Clean Energy New York.

Those groups had challenged a policy requiring multiple levels of approval from senior political appointees for nearly every step in the permitting process for wind and solar projects.

The judge found that the administration had not adequately justified the additional review structure.

The decision represents one of several recent judicial setbacks for President Donald Trump’s administration as it seeks to reshape federal energy policy. The administration has emphasized expanding fossil fuel production, promoting oil, coal, and natural gas output while reducing support for renewable energy sources.

On Monday, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act and signed memorandums aimed at increasing domestic energy production, citing national defense concerns.

According to court filings, the challenged Department of the Interior memorandum implemented directives aimed at eliminating what the administration called “preferences” for “expensive and unreliable energy sources like wind and solar.”

The policy required nearly every step in the permitting process for wind and solar projects to receive approval from three senior political appointees, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The judge also blocked the Department’s “adoption of an interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that ​imposes stricter standards for offshore wind projects,” Reuters reported.

Plaintiffs argued that the policy created a bottleneck that brought permitting to a halt and was adopted without an explanation of why it was needed, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Casper agreed with those arguments, stating that the directives cited by the administration did not sufficiently justify the added review process or the stricter standards applied to renewable energy projects.

Her order blocks the enforcement of those policies while the case proceeds.

Casper was nominated to the federal bench in 2010 by President Barack Obama. Before her appointment, records show she donated $3,550 to Democratic candidates and committees between 1998 and 2008, including $2,300 to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

In 1998, she volunteered for Democrat Martha Coakley’s campaign for Middlesex District Attorney, and in April 2006 served as a volunteer host for a fundraiser supporting Democrat Gerard T. Leone Jr.’s campaign for the same office.

Read rest at Breitbart