A Massachusetts federal court has delivered a significant judicial rebuke to the Trump administration’s energy policy, declaring its ban on new wind energy permits “unlawful.” The ruling from District Judge Patti B. Saris vacated an executive order issued in January that had frozen federal approvals for both offshore and onshore wind projects nationwide.
The legal challenge originated from a coalition of 17 states, led by New York, and a clean energy advocacy group. Their lawsuit was triggered when the Interior Department mandated a work stoppage on the Empire Wind 1 project—a major offshore wind farm designed to power approximately 500,000 New York homes.
In her decisive ruling, Judge Saris characterized the administration’s policy shift as “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.” She noted that federal agencies had failed to provide adequate justification or “a reasoned explanation for the change” in their renewable energy approval process.
New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated the decision as “a big victory in our fight to keep tackling the climate crisis” through social media channels. She emphasized that the successful litigation had prevented the administration from obstructing numerous wind energy initiatives across the country.
The court’s intervention comes amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration’s pro-fossil fuel agenda and state-level renewable energy ambitions. While construction on the Empire Wind project has since resumed, states argued the broader permitting freeze was causing substantial economic harm nationwide.
President Trump has consistently expressed hostility toward wind energy, recently stating “we’re not going to do the wind thing” and referring to turbines as “big, ugly windmills” that endanger wildlife. His administration has actively promoted fossil fuel development under the “drill, baby, drill” energy philosophy.
The Empire Wind project, developed by Norwegian energy company Equinor, remains on track for completion within two years, with full operational capacity expected by late 2027.