The Trump administration didn’t appeal a federal court ruling in favor of an offshore wind project near Rhode Island on Friday, in a potential sign of the importance of bipartisan permitting negotiations on Capitol Hill.
Last week was the deadline for the Department of Justice to challenge a federal judge’s injunction blocking an Interior Department order meant to stop work on the Revolution Wind project because of national security concerns.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had promised to appeal several similar rulings allowing Revolution Wind and other offshore wind projects to continue construction.
But Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, had threatened to pause permitting reform negotiations again if the administration continued attacking renewable energy.
“We are watching those and would view any appeal as inconsistent with further progress on permitting reform,” Whitehouse said Thursday when asked about the offshore wind projects the administration has sought to halt.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a question about the decision not to appeal but said the administration “looks forward to ultimate victory on this issue.”
“President Trump’s position on wind energy has remained consistent for years – it is a liability and the biggest scam of the century. President Trump has reversed course on Joe Biden’s costly green energy agenda that gave preferential treatment to intermittent, unreliable energy sources and instead is aggressively unleashing reliable and affordable energy sources to lower energy bills, improve our grid stability, and protect our national security,” Taylor Rogers said in an email.
The Justice Department and Interior did not respond to requests for comment.
Revolution Wind, a joint venture of Ørsted and a subsidiary of BlackRock, was 80 percent complete when it was halted by Interior over alleged national security concerns in December. It resumed construction in January after Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled the government’s arguments amounted to an “unreasonable and seemingly unjustified change in position.”
Even though work on Revolution Work continued, the underlying litigation remains pending. The Justice Department asked for a 25-day extension Wednesday for producing administrative records.
Ørsted told financial analysts last month that 59 of the 65 turbines had been installed. And on Friday, the project said it had begun generating electricity from the $6.2 billion development. At full capacity, the 704-megawatt project will be able to generate enough electricity to power 350,000 homes.
An Ørsted spokesperson declined comment about the administration not filing to appeal Lamberth’s injunction by the Friday deadline.
Revolution Wind was one of five offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast halted by Interior. All five have since resumed construction after suing the administration.
Interior’s December stop-work orders upended permitting negotiations on Capitol Hill. They led Whitehouse and Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to withdraw from active negotiations toward a bipartisan package to ease the approval of all kinds of energy projects.
The pair agreed to resume negotiations after Interior said it had begun processing permitting for solar and wind projects on public land, but the Democrats said they would remain vigilant.
Whitehouse on Saturday celebrated news that Revolution Wind had begun making electricity, saying in a statement that the project “will make our grid more reliable in the winter and reduce Rhode Islanders’ energy costs for years to come.”
The White House has said its Energy Dominance Council have been more active in the permitting talks. Top Republicans like Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have discussed with the president’s aides their desire to keep engaging with Democrats toward a deal.
“I think this shows good faith by the Administration that they are trying to get an agreement on permitting. I think most believe this year represents the last, best chance to cut a deal,” said a former Interior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive issue. “For right now at least, on all sides, it looks like the adults are in the building.”
Still, the administration could issue another round of stop-work orders, said one person active in the offshore wind industry granted anonymity to discuss sensitive business maters. President Donald Trump has deep animosity for wind energy, particularly offshore turbines.
“Two things can be true at once. Whitehouse and Heinrich laid down the marker, ‘If you appeal, we are going to walk away.’ That clearly had an effect,” the person said. “But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t keep trying to stop the projects.”
Nick Loris, president of C3 Solutions, a conservative think tank that advocates for climate policy and clean energy, said permitting reform could be a “legacy-defining achievement” for Trump.
“We’re on the 20-yard line and need chunk plays forward, not more false starts,” he said. “It would be such a shame to waste this golden opportunity, which so many organizations across the political spectrum and companies across the energy landscape want to see succeed.”
