The Defense Department stopped processing national security reviews of wind projects in May, despite a law demanding they be completed in 75 days.
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A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to lift its freeze on reviewing offshore wind energy projects for national security concerns, one of several tools the Trump administration has used to undercut the renewables industry.
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut granted a preliminary injunction to renewable energy groups that lifts the freeze as their lawsuit challenging the policy plays out in court.
According to a 2011 law, the Defense Department is required to complete the reviews within 75 days. But the department had slowed approvals for proposed wind projects last year, before halting them entirely in May.
The Pentagon’s press office said in an email that the department does not comment on ongoing litigation.
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President Donald Trump has criticized wind power as being ugly and expensive. Proponents say that the projects help curb climate change by producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions and that offshore wind in particular is an essential energy source for large cities on the East Coast where there is little room to build onshore.
The Interior Department has separately bought back $3.9 billion in offshore wind leases, buying back areas from Germany’s RWE on Thursday in the fifth deal of its kind. Analysts say Trump’s policies to stymie renewables and boost fossil fuels are probably subtracting energy from the grid at a time when consumers’ electricity bills are rapidly rising.
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