Federal judge clears resumption of offshore wind project blocked by Trump administration

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth on Monday authorized Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to resume work on its Revolution Wind project, which had been halted in December by the administration of President Donald Trump, along with four other projects. The decision, which represents the second time a judge has overturned a stop-work order on the project issued by the current White House, is a judicial setback for the conservative leader, taking into account that he has tried to block the expansion of offshore wind energy in federal waters.

On the other hand, the ruling grants a temporary victory to the company, which has been working on the offshore wind energy project aimed at supplying electricity to more than 300,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, being almost 90% complete when the Trump Administration decided to halt it a few days before Christmas after citing national security concerns.

Lamberth noted that the administration failed to explain the reasons why construction could not proceed and that several government figures had been openly critical of the wind farms for reasons unrelated to national security. While the Trump administration did not reveal specific details about its national security concerns, the Republican leader said last Friday, during a meeting with executives from different oil companies to discuss investments in Venezuela, that wind farms are "losers" not only because they lose money, but also because they destroy the landscape and kill birds. "I’ve told my people we will not approve windmills. Maybe we get forced to do something because some stupid person in the Biden administration agreed to do something years ago. We will not approve any windmills in this country," Trump said.