Democratic attorneys general from California and New York have sued the Trump administration over its plans to buy back offshore wind leases as Donald Trump seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels. California attorney general Rob Bonta said he was suing over removal of a project off his state’s coast planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The Trump administration said in June it was buying back the company’s US offshore wind leases for four wind projects on the east and west coasts.
New York attorney general Letitia James, meanwhile, led seven states in suits seeking to block the Invenergy deal and another proposal with Bluepoint Wind, which agreed in April to end a wind farm under development off the New York and New Jersey coast. The deals would hand energy companies $1.4bn in taxpayer dollars in exchange for the cancellation of multiple projects. In all, the Trump administration has pledged nearly $4bn to companies to walk away from projects across the country.
The Interior Department started buying back offshore wind leases in March after federal courts thwarted Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action. In exchange for reimbursements of lease fees, companies are investing in fossil fuel projects and geothermal energy. Interior secretary Doug Burgum has said that companies “are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs”.
James called the deals illegal and said they would ultimately increase Americans’ electricity bills by sabotaging states’ ability to meet growing energy demands. Bonta, speaking at a Climate Week event in New York, said climate action needs to match the scope, speed and scale of the problem. It slows the process down and we know we are running out of time and we need to be urgent and aggressive,” Bonta said Tuesday in remarks just before Trump addressed the UN general assembly.
California energy commission chair David Hochschild said at the New York City bar that the power to drive a transition away from fossil fuels still rests primarily with the states. While Trump, who often talks about his hatred of wind power, can slow it down and make it more expensive, Hochschild said, “he can’t put the genie back in the bottle”. Trump has said his goal is to not let any “windmills” be built.
New York state energy research and development authority president Doreen Harris said they are all confident they will ultimately succeed in court, however they need energy infrastructure in their states for a reliable grid. She added: '“We just want to get back to building.” Attorneys general in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont joined New York’s suit.
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