A US federal court judge has declared President Donald Trump’s offshore wind moratorium illegal.

The 20 January order, which directed a halt on all leasing and permitting activity for wind projects pending a wide-ranging assessment of practices, was “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law”, the judge found in a summary judgement.

The wind memo has virtually ground any offshore wind permitting activity to a halt, and a number of developers have cancelled or scaled back plans, citing regulatory uncertainty.

The court ruling comes after 17 states and the District of Columbia filed suit against Trump for violations under the Administrative Procedure Act.

US District Judge Patti Saris agreed, writing that the wind memo violated several elements of the act.

“An indefinite halt on issuing (or denying) all authorisations related to wind projects violates the statutory requirement that agencies must ‘proceed to conclude . . . matter[s] presented to” them ‘within a reasonable time.’”

The trade group Oceantic Network celebrated the ruling.

CEO Liz Burdock said: “Today’s decision is welcome news, not just for the thousands of American workers and businesses across 40 states supporting offshore wind in the U.S., but also for the critical relief the wind industry will provide to lower skyrocketing electricity prices for millions of American families with reliable, affordable power.

“Overturning the unlawful blanket halt to offshore wind permitting activities is needed to achieve our nation’s energy and economic priorities of bringing more power online quickly, improving grid reliability, and driving billions of new American steel manufacturing and shipbuilding investments.”

More information:https://renews.biz/105809/trumps-offshore-wind-order-arbitrary-and-capricious/