A federal judge has ordered the Department of Defense to lift its blockade of wind energy projects and resume the permitting process that has ground to a halt during President Donald Trump’s second term.
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Under Trump, the Pentagon has stopped conducting the national security reviews that are required for wind turbines over 200 feet tall. Renewable energy companies and Democratic attorneys general sued the administration, saying the refusal to conduct the once-routine reviews has stalled more than 155 onshore wind projects.
On Thursday, Judge Karin Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued a preliminary injunction, ordering the Pentagon to resume the review process while the case proceeds.
In her ruling, Immergut said the agency had not complied with regulatory deadlines to review permits.
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“(The Department of Defense) cannot pick and choose which parts of this legal regime to follow,” she wrote.
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Environmental groups praised the decision.
“For months, wind projects capable of supplying millions of homes and businesses with low-cost power have been needlessly obstructed, as electricity costs and demand soar,” Phelps Turner, senior attorney for U.S. clean energy at the Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement.
In a statement to Stateline last month, the Defense Department said it was “actively evaluating” projects in a complex process “to balance renewable energy development with the protection and preservation of testing, training, and operational readiness.”
Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at [email protected].
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes NC Newsline, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
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