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A federal court judge is allowing the Trump administration to reconsider a major federal permit that was granted to a Massachusetts Offshore wind farm days before presidential inauguration.
Developer Southcoast Wind said Wednesday it was assessing the decision and next steps, including legal remedies. Southcoast Wind is a project planned for federal waters approximately 23 miles (37 kilometers) south. NantucketWith 141 turbines to power approximately 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Construction Has not started yet.
The Trump administration is using executive orders, agency actions, and the courts to try to stop the development of offshore wind, an industry and technology that the President donald trump It has been considered “ugly” and unreliable compared to fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.
Massachusetts has pioneered offshore wind to meet its goals of clean energy and electricity demand. The state governor said the region needed this power.
“There is no need for the Trump administration to reopen permitting processes and deny states the opportunity to deliver jobs, investment and energy,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement.
Nantucket sued the Interior Department in March. The city asked a U.S. District Court judge in Washington to void the federal government’s approval to build the wind farm, arguing that it would harm the city’s character, community, and tourism economy.
Federal defendants filed a motion in September seeking to void approval of the project’s “construction and operation plan.” This was the last major federal permit for the project before installation of turbines in the water began. The Interior Department said the approval did not fully comply with the law and failed to take into account all of the project’s impacts.
Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Tuesday that the permit be sent to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, for reconsideration. He wrote that it was “in the interest of judicial economy” or saving time and resources, since Nantucket supports reconsideration, and the developer would not suffer “significant and immediate hardship.”
Nantucket said the court’s decision confirms its long-standing position that the federal government should take a hard look at potential flaws in the environmental and cultural analysis underpinning offshore wind permitting decisions.
Southcoast Wind said it has invested more than $600 million in development and permitting, including lease fee payments to the federal government, since first securing the lease during the Trump administration. CEO Michael Brown said he is confident the project brings value to the area by providing domestic energy and supporting good-paying union jobs.
BOEM approved Southcoast’s operating plan on January 17, three days before Trump’s second term began.
Trump has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and prefers fossil fuels for electricity. His administration has halted construction on major offshore wind farms, canceled wind energy permits and halted permitting, canceled plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and halted $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects. This step is a complete reversal from the Biden administration.
In another lawsuit, a federal judge ruled in September that almost all of the offshore wind projects halted by the administration can restart, dealing a blow to Trump. Revolution Wind is believed to be the first large offshore wind farm in Rhode Island and Connecticut, capable of supplying electricity to more than 350,000 homes, approximately 2.5% of the region’s electricity needs.
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AP writer Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this report.
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