New York leads 17 state coalition filing lawsuit to end Trump offshore wind energy halt

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul: “New York is not backing down without a fight"[Photo: New Y.ork State Governor's Office]

New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 17 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to end the Trump administration’s arbitrary and indefinite halt on new offshore wind energy development across the country. On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a sweeping presidential directive suspending all federal approvals for wind energy projects, threatening to undermine a critical source of clean energy and job growth in the United States. As a result, countless wind energy project applications are now frozen. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that this blockade on all wind energy projects is unlawful and will be seeking a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the administration from enforcing the freeze while litigation proceeds.

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” said Attorney General James. “This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet.”

“President Trump’s presidential order halting the development of wind energy threatens thousands of good-paying jobs and jeopardizes our ability to build a reliable, affordable anand clean energy grid for the benefit of all New Yorkers,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “Like virtually all the executive orders issued by the President thus far, it sows chaos and upsets the critical regulatory clarity needed for businesses to effectively operate in New York and around the country.

“New York is not backing down without a fight — we are suing the federal government in litigation just announced by Attorney General Letitia James. We must not allow this federal overreach to stand.”

Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the president’s directive is at odds with years of bipartisan support for offshore and onshore wind energy projects, including during President Trump’s first term. It also directly contradicts the president’s own executive orders issued on the same day, which declared a “national energy emergency,” singled out New York and several other states for the country’s lack of energy supply, and called for the expansion of most forms of domestic energy production, but not wind energy.

The attorneys general argue this unilateral halt on wind energy development is harming states’ ability to provide reliable, affordable electricity to their residents. States have a responsibility to meet increasing electricity demand while also mitigating climate harms and reducing pollution caused by fossil fuels. In addition, the indefinite halt on federal approvals is already putting state investments and economic benefits from wind energy projects in jeopardy. New York’s wind projects currently support over 4,400 jobs throughout the state and are expected to create more than 18,000 additional new jobs in the coming years. Those jobs will not materialize if these projects are halted. The administration’s indefinite blockade could leave billions of dollars in states’ clean energy investments stranded or underutilized and significantly harm their economic development.

This wind energy blockade is also impeding New York and other states’ ability to meet their energy and climate goals. These are statutory targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, more specifically, meet target dates for electricity generated by wind power. New York’s Climate Law requires the state to obtain 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

Attorney General James and the coalition warn that the halt on wind energy development will delay the replacement of fossil fuels with clean energy, a shift that will exacerbate climate, public health, and environmental harms to people across the nation and the globe. The administration’s blockade would derail key projects already under development, many of which are expected to power millions of homes and support tens of thousands of jobs. The attorneys general also note that the risk of these harms to the industry and the states has risen sharply in recent weeks, as the Trump administration ordered a project off the coast of New York, which had already received federal approval, to immediately stop construction.

Attorney General James and the coalition assert that the president is acting outside of his legal authority and has no statutory right to unilaterally shut down the permitting process. They are asking the court to intervene and rule the approval blockade unlawful, restoring the wind energy permitting process and protecting the wind energy industry long-term.

The attorneys general of the other states party to the lawsuit expressed similar sentiments.

“The Trump Administration’s outrageous and unlawful freeze on wind energy development is nothing short of a direct assault on Maryland’s future climate security and economic prosperity. Wind power provides hardworking Marylanders with well-paying jobs, strengthens our power grid, and helps us fight the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change,” said Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown. “With this lawsuit, we are protecting the livelihoods of thousands of families and standing firm against President Trump’s reckless attack on an industry that offers to secure reliable, affordable, and clean energy for every Marylander.”

“It is deeply disappointing that the Trump Administration is illegally attempting to block our state from developing new sources of power through their across-the-broad freeze on wind energy,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “While the Trump Administration prioritizes the profits of oil and gas companies, we are standing up for working families, for our environment, and for the jobs being killed by this unlawful action. For our state and for our future generations, we are filing a lawsuit against the Administration and working to stop them from preventing the development of wind energy here in New Jersey.”