The Trump Administration Can't Stop Losing Offshore Wind Court Cases

Donald Trump hates wind turbines. He has been actively working to oppose them since 2011 when the Scottish Government first proposed building some near a golf course he owns. Now as President, he is using every tool at the Federal Government’s disposal to stymie the development of the industry in the United States. Trump issued an Executive Order on his first day in office meant to halt offshore wind permitting. A coalition of pro-offshore wind States filed a lawsuit against that Executive Order and a coalition of environmental groups, including EPIC, filed an amicus brief in support. That order was declared unlawful and paused late last year because it violated the Administrative Procedure Act. That’s not the only attack on offshore wind that the Trump Administration carried out last year. The National Wildlife Federation has created a timeline of federal impacts to the development of responsible offshore wind, which highlights the full-court strategy being employed by the Administration to kill this renewable energy industry.

One of the Trump Administration’s arguments in the lawsuit was that the offshore wind projects need additional environmental review. This is extremely ironic because for basically every other infrastructure project, the Trump Administration is laser-focused on eviscerating environmental review and protections. This includes reduced environmental review for nuclear reactors and coal mines , as well as general reductions in environmental review for all projects. The Administration’s energy and environmental policy is perhaps best captured in their adoption of the mascot “Coalie,” a personified lump of coal. The potential environmental impacts of coal mining far surpass those of offshore wind farms , and so it makes absolutely no sense to speed the former up while pausing the latter.

An AI image of Doug Burgum and “Coalie” posted on X by Secretary Doug Burgum. Source: https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2014382110828536183

Also in December, the Trump Administration issued stop-work-orders for 5 offshore wind projects that were already under construction The projects had undergone extensive environmental review by the Biden Administration and had obtained all of their permits. The projects collectively have the capacity to deliver almost six gigawatts of power to the grid, enough to power approximately 2.5 million homes. That power would displace existing fossil fuel power generating on the east coast, improving air quality and fighting climate change. The sudden stop-work-orders left workers without promised jobs. The lack of new electricity – which the States had been assuming would come online because the plans were already approved –  threatened to cause black outs and increase electricity prices. The already operating portion of Vineyard Wind saved New Englanders $2 million per day in energy costs during a December cold snap.  The Trump Administration claimed that the pause was for national security reasons despite the fact that the Biden National Security team had signed off on the projects through a lengthy consultation process. When asked to explain the National Security Threat, the Administration claimed it was confidential. 

Map Showing the Locations & Status of East Coast Offshore Wind Projects. IMAGE SOURCE: Feinberg, P., & Greene, N. (2026, February 2). Courts blow back the Trump Administration’s Offshore Wind Freeze. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/bio/pasha-feinberg/courts-blow-back-trump-administrations-offshore-wind-freeze

Offshore wind developers immediately sued to have the Administration’s orders lifted and, as of February 2nd, all 5 projects have won preliminary injunctions and can resume construction. The judges, presented with the confidential national security arguments, found them to be utterly lacking in merit. That brings the grand total of court losses to 6. Once again, the Trump Administration's actions violated the Administrative Procedures Act because they acted without showing their work. When the Federal Government wants to revoke permits for already permitted projects or drastically change federal energy policy, it’s supposed to follow a process laid out in the Administrative Procedure Act. That process guarantees a public process where agencies consider stakeholder input and that federal agencies explain their decision making. Sometimes it can be a little frustrating that the federal government can’t move faster to accomplish environmentally friendly goals, but the Trump Administration’s actions are a potent reminder why those safeguards were put in place.