It’s 2007—The American College of Environmental Lawyers is founded by 23 attorneys, including me. George W. Bush, Jr., is President.
It’s 2008—I begin working on offshore wind development, and Barack Obama is elected President. I also become President-Elect of the College, hosting the Annual Meeting in Portland, Maine.
It’s 2025-26—The College has grown and thrived; offshore wind development in the U.S. had grown and thrived until—it did not. Lost in all of the many headlines, articles and blog posts about God Squads, invasions and blockades, government shutdowns, AI and data centers, and rising costs—lost in the noise are interesting and instructive offshore wind litigating worth summarizing here.
January 20, 2025—Donald Trump is inaugurated for his second term at noon. That afternoon he issues an Executive Order for the “temporary” withdrawal of all offshore wind project leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, and mandating that federal agencies “shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.”
May 5, 2025—17 states plus DC challenge the Order in a Massachusetts federal court, New York et al vs. Trump et al., with claims under the Administrative Procedure Act; an equitable claim that federal officials violated laws governing permits and approvals for wind energy project approvals; and a common law ultra vires claim.
July 3, 2025—The District Court dismisses all claims but for the APA claims, and holds that Plaintiffs have standing to proceed.
August 8, 2025—The parties move and cross-move for summary judgment.
December 8, 2025—The District Court rules that federal agencies’ orders pausing all wind energy authorizations pursuant to the January Executive Order were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.
December 18, 2025—Judgment is entered by the District Court.
February 17, 2026—On the last possible day, the U.S. appeals to the First Circuit.
Meanwhile…..
December 22, 2025—The Department of Interior announces “that it is pausing—effective immediately—the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports. This pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.” The leases are off New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
January 2026—All five project developers, including Vineyard Wind, sue and seek preliminary injunctions, alleging irreparable harm, and all five are granted injunctive relief, the last being on February 2. DOI Secretary Burgum says he will appeal the rulings.
April 10, 2026—Instead, the DOI lets the 60-day appeal periods lapse with no appeals filed. Possibly as part of the “permitting reform” efforts in Congress.
Meanwhile….
April 8, 2026—Vineyard Wind sues General Electric in Massachusetts Superior Court, to block GE from withdrawing from its turbine supply and O&M agreement.
April 17, 2026—The Massachusetts court grants a preliminary injunction on irreparable harm grounds, and sets the next hearing for May 1.
Meanwhile…..last and not least….
March 23, 2026—The U.S. Department of Interior and TotalEnergies announce that they have entered into an agreement in which the U.S. will pay $928 million to Total in exchange for relinquishing two 2022 offshore wind leases ($795 million for the Attentive Energy New York Bight lease, and $133,333,333 for Total’s Carolina Long Bay lease) and reinvesting those funds into development of the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas, and into oil and gas production in the Gulf of America. The monies are to come from the Department of Justice’s Judgment Fund even though there is no pending litigation or judgment.
April 6, 2026—Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, writes a 7-page letter to TotalEnergies challenging the legality of the DOI-Total agreement, and posing a number of questions.
April 9, 2026—The DOI issues its Lease Cancellation Decision to TotalEnergies as to the Carolina Long Bay project, and the DOI says it will request payment from the Judgment Fund Branch at the DOJ.
April 17, 2026—The DOI issues its Lease Cancellation Decision to Attentive Energy, LLC (Total is 55.9% owner of Attentive; the rest is Corio OSW Investments (27.67%) and Rise Light & Power though an assignee (16.34%). The DOI asserts that based upon classified information “recently learned from the Department of War”, the DOI would not have issued the lease in 2022 had it know of the that information.
Meanwhile….it is April 19, 2026 as I write this blog. Going to the U.S. Department of Energy’s offshore wind research and development website, it now says: “Editor’s note: This page is about a research effort that is no longer active.”
Given the inability of federal resource agencies to issue permits or even (like USFWS) to consult on offshore wind, no new wind projects on offshore federal lands can move forward absent new court orders and possible legislative changes (if any) after the November elections. Will the Total-DOI deal be challenged in court? What will the First Circuit rule on the permitting pause appeal? Will GE and Vineyard Wind settle out of court or continue to litigate? Will the Trump Administration target other 2022-era awarded offshore wind leases to negotiate similar deals to that with Total?
As another Republican President said, in 1865: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” That is the challenge to ACOEL members, from Abraham Lincoln.
