The Trump administration will reconsider its approval for a major offshore wind project south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, after moving to cancel several other offshore wind projects in recent weeks.
In a motion submitted on Friday to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys wrote that the Department of the Interior (DOI) plans to revisit its approval of SouthCoast Wind’s construction and operations plan (COP). The agency approved the plan mere days before President Donald Trump returned to office, and Trump has dealt several recent blows to the offshore wind industry as it continues to ax massive Biden-era green energy projects and closes in on others.
“Interior intends to reconsider its COP approval and will therefore be moving for a voluntary remand of that agency action by September 18, 2025,” the filing states.
17 by audreystreb
The DOJ filed the motion in a lawsuit brought by Nantucket, Massachusetts, in March challenging the agency’s approval of the project. The administration requested additional time to respond to Nantucket’s complaint as the DOI was reconsidering the massive project’s construction plan approval.
SouthCoast wind then opposed the administration’s request in a Monday filing.
Notably, an offshore wind turbine malfunctioned and littered debris off the coast of Nantucket in June 2024, raising the concern of some environmentalist groups.
The DOI recently issued a work-stop order for a massive offshore wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and was seeking to withdraw approval for another Biden-era offshore wind farm near Maryland. The agency halted all “preferential treatment” on July 17 for wind and solar projects that it considered to be “unreliable,” “subsidy-dependent” and “foreign-controlled.”
The Department of Transportation also withdrew or terminated federal funding for 12 offshore wind projects on Friday.
The Trump administration has prioritized boosting conventional and reliable energy sources like coal or nuclear while cutting taxpayer support for energy technologies the Biden administration favored like offshore wind or solar. Former President Joe Biden pushed for the development of wind and solar through billions in government subsidies, loans and grants as part of his climate agenda, which some energy sector experts believed set the U.S. on a path destined for an energy crisis as his administration cracked down on reliable energy sources like coal, oil and gas.
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