A federal judge has dealt a further blow to the beleaguered U.S. offshore wind industry, allowing the Trump administration to reconsider approval of a massive wind energy development planned off the Massachusetts coast.
Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday sided with the White House, allowing the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reopen a Biden-era decision approving construction and operations plans for the industrial-scale SouthCoast Wind project.
The decision comes as the administration has sought to dismantle wind energy, and it came over the vociferous objections of the project developer.
In her order, Chutkan, an Obama appointee, said she was “not convinced” that SouthCoast Wind was “likely to suffer immediate and significant hardship” and said the court would use “its discretion to remand and stay this case pending the agency’s reconsideration of the permit.”
