The Environmental Impact of a Republican President: U.S. Wind Energy Policy Attacks on the Ocean-Based Investments in New York and Rhode Island

The suit claims that Trump has attacked wind energy in a way that isarbitrary. It invokes the Administrative Procedure Act that allows courts to deem federal agency actions unlawful if they’re found to be “arbitrary” and “capricious.”

“This administration is devastating one of our nation’s fastest-growing sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release.

The lawsuit is being framed as a partisan attack by the administration. The White House said Democrat Attorneys General are using the law to stop the President’s energy agenda, instead of working with him. “Americans in blue states should not have to pay the price of the Democrats’ radical climate agenda.”

“The American people voted for the president to restore America’s energy dominance, and Americans in blue states should not have to pay the price of the Democrats’ radical climate agenda,” Rogers said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The Biden administration saw offshore wind as a solution to climate change and approved a number of commercial-scale projects. Trump is reversing those energy policies. He’s boosting fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, which cause climate change, arguing it’s necessary for the U.S. to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity in the world.

Equinor started to build Empire Wind last year to provide power to 500,000 New York homes. Equinor is considering legal options, which would be separate from the complaint filed Monday. The majority of Equinor is owned by the Norwegian government.

Massachusetts has invested in offshore wind to ensure residents have access to well-paying green jobs and reliable, affordable energy, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said. Vineyard Wind is one of three offshore wind projects in the state. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied to hear a case brought by fishermen’s organizations challenging the approval of Vineyard Wind.

Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of state plans to shift to renewable energy, particularly in populous East Coast states with limited land. One year ago, the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm opened in New York. A smaller wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island.

Elsewhere, political leaders are trying to rapidly increase wind energy. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a major investment in wind power in April while hosting an international summit on energy security. The premier of Nova Scotia told a conference in Virginia last week that the province will offer five gigawatts of offshore wind energy by the year 2030.

Energy and Environment Trademarks: How Trump is manipulating offshore wind and whale deaths in the light of the EPA and the Department of Energy and the Environment

is a senior science reporter covering energy and the environment with more than a decade of experience. She is also the host ofHell orHigh Water: When Disasterhits Home, a show from Audible and Vox Media.

Trump’s election campaign received more than $75 million in contributions from oil and gas interests. The president is continuing to spread misinformation about offshore wind projects and whale deaths.

“The order to halt work now is unprecedented and in our view unlawful. The president and CEO of Equinor, Anders Opedal, said in an April 29 release that this is a question of rights and obligations granted under legally issued permits and security of investments based on valid approvals.