AG Brown defeats Trump’s attack on wind energy

Attorney General Nick Brown and a multistate coalition won a final victory Monday in their lawsuit challenging the federal government’s unlawful order to freeze all federal permitting for wind energy projects when the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed the Trump administration’s appeal.

“Wind energy is an essential option for delivering clean energy jobs and cheaper, cleaner power to Washingtonians as we transition from dirtier, more expensive fuels,” said Brown. “Once again, we’ve defeated one of the Trump administration’s harmful and illegal attacks on Washington’s economy.”

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a presidential memo that indefinitely halted all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. The coalition filed a lawsuit challenging those actions and in December 2025, a federal judge ruled that they were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law. The federal government appealed that ruling but subsequently decided to drop that appeal. Monday, the court entered a judgement dismissing the appeal and cementing the states’ victory.

Wind energy is a homegrown source of reliable, affordable energy that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, creates billions of dollars in economic activity and tax payments, and supplies more than 10% of the country’s electricity.

The indefinite halt on project approvals threatened Washington’s ability to meet its greenhouse gas emissions requirements and renewable energy commitments. It also threatened an increasingly important part of Washington’s economy. Washington has enacted multiple state laws encouraging the deployment of affordable, clean renewable energy like that from wind.

Wind power is the second largest contributor to Washington’s renewable energy generation after hydroelectric power. In 2024, Washington generated 8,421 thousand Megawatt hours from wind power alone, enhancing Washington’s energy security and economic stability.

The coalition argued that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the agencies, among other things, provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals. The lawsuit also argued that the abrupt halt on all permitting violated numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals—procedures the administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind energy development altogether.

Brown was joined in this lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York, by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island. 

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