PROVIDENCE – Attorneys general from 17 states, including R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, scored another legal victory over the Trump administration.
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has dismissed President Donald Trump’s appeal of a federal judge’s decision that blocked his executive order that paused approvals, permits and loans for all wind-energy projects both onshore and offshore.
Trump vowed during the campaign to end the offshore wind industry if he returned to the White House, signed the order during his first day in office on Jan. 20, 2025. The directive stated there were "alleged legal deficiencies underlying the federal government's leasing and permitting" of wind projects, and it directed the Interior secretary to review wind leasing and permitting practices for federal waters and lands.
On May 5, 2025, Neronha and the attorneys general challenged Trump, saying he didn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process, and he's jeopardizing development of a power source critical to the states' economic vitality, energy mix, public health and climate goals.
On Dec. 8, federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated those actions, ruling that they were arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law.
“Wind energy creates jobs and helps stabilize energy prices, neither of which this Administration seems to know how to do,” Neronha said. “Today’s win once again demonstrates that this federal government is not immune from consequences, and our coalition is proving that with each legal victory we achieve. Rhode Islanders and Americans everywhere continue to pay the price, quite literally, for a collective hesitancy in embracing clean energy infrastructure. Wind energy is crucial to bringing energy costs down and keeping them down, and we will continue fighting to ensure a clean-energy future for generations to come.”
The coalition, which includes Washington, D.C., argued, and the appeals court agreed, that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act because, among other things, the agencies 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 Trump administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind-energy development altogether.
Joining Neronha in the coalition were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.
(Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.)
