Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Order Barring Wind Energy Projects
A Clinton-appointed federal judge moved Monday to block one of President Donald J. Trump’s earliest actions to restore balance and accountability to America’s chaotic renewable-energy sector — striking down the administration’s temporary freeze on wind-energy approvals and effectively reopening the floodgates for an industry long shielded by the Biden-era regulatory machine.
The directive at the center of the fight, formally titled the “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects” — and commonly referred to as the Wind Memo — was signed on Jan. 20, 2025, as part of President Trump’s day-one energy agenda.
The order instructed federal agencies to pause all new or renewed permits, leases, and rights-of-way for both onshore and offshore wind development while the administration reassessed the national wind-energy framework, including its impact on marine life, coastal economies, and American energy prices.
But U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of the District of Massachusetts ruled that agencies’ implementation of the pause violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Saris, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, held that the Wind Memo’s permitting freeze was “arbitrary and capricious” and “contrary to law” — siding with a coalition of seventeen states, Washington, D.C., and the climate-activist group Alliance for Clean Energy New York.
Saris faulted federal agencies for following the president’s directive without producing what she considered sufficient internal analysis. In her ruling, she wrote:
“This scant administrative record makes clear, and the agency defendants do not meaningfully dispute, that the agency defendants have not ‘reasonably considered the relevant issues and reasonably explained the[ir] decision’ to implement the Wind Order.”
She added that the Biden-aligned plaintiffs were correct in arguing that officials “candidly concede that the sole factor they considered in deciding to stop issuing permits was the president’s direction to do so.”
Her decision fully vacated the Wind Memo, reinstating wind-energy permitting nationwide.
The White House pushed back firmly on Monday, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers noting that the Trump administration’s freeze was meant to restore fairness after years of lopsided favoritism toward wind developers under Biden:
“Under Joe Biden’s Green New Scam, offshore wind projects were given unfair, preferential treatment while the rest of the energy industry was hindered by burdensome regulations,” Rogers told Fox News Digital.
He added:
“President Trump’s day one executive order instructed agencies to review leases and permitting practices for wind projects with consideration for our country’s growing demands for reliable energy, effects on energy costs for American families, the importance of marine life and the fishing industry, and the impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns.”
“President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and unleashed America’s energy dominance to protect our economic and national security.”
The ruling also raises a glaring contradiction that conservatives quickly noted: a federal judge can vacate President Trump’s wind-energy directive, but then-President Biden faced no such barrier when he unilaterally canceled the Keystone XL pipeline — even after billions had already been invested. Biden’s own campaign pledge to “end fossil fuel production” in the United States arguably epitomizes the very “arbitrary and capricious” standard the APA is designed to prevent.
Among those cheering Monday’s decision was New York Attorney General Letitia James — who was indicted earlier this year by the Justice Department for alleged mortgage fraud. James, echoing environmental-activist talking points, wrote on X:
“We won our lawsuit and stopped the Trump administration from blocking an array of new wind energy projects. This is a big victory in our fight to keep tackling the climate crisis and protect one of our best sources of clean, reliable, and affordable energy.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell also issued praise, stating:
“This critical victory also preserves well-paying green jobs and access to reliable, affordable energy that will help Massachusetts meet our clean energy and climate goals.”
The Trump administration has not yet announced whether it will appeal, though officials close to the matter say such a challenge is highly likely — especially given the sweeping implications the ruling could have for federal energy policy and executive authority.