Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday the administration plans to appeal a ruling last month that blocked the department’s efforts to increase scrutiny on wind and solar projects.
At a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee, Burgum said he rejects “the whole premise” of the ruling from U.S. District Judge Denise Casper, an Obama appointee, in Massachusetts.
“The idea that a single judge could decide what the process that we’re supposed to go through internally to make sure that we’re complying with the law through a complex permitting process is absurd,” Burgum said.
Interior has imposed a slate of policies that have largely shut down the processing of wind and solar projects on federal land. The administration has also sought to stop offshore wind projects under construction.
