On the heels of an action by states challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to block federal permits for offshore wind development a lawsuit filed by 15 states on May 9, 2025, claims that the administration misapplied the National Emergencies Act in declaring a national energy emergency. The emergency declaration, announced in a January 20, 2025, executive order, compels federal agencies to accelerate permit approvals for specified energy projects. The order excludes solar and wind production from its definition of “energy” and as a result those renewable projects are not subject to expedited permitting. The plaintiff states, led by Washington and including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, allege the emergency order is unlawful and will cause federal agencies to bypass or shorten critical environmental reviews. In light of the nation’s strong domestic energy production outlook, the states are claiming that the emergency order is a ruse to implement the administration’s policies that favor oil and gas production and undermine renewable and clean energy development. The complaint alleges that fast-tracking permit approvals for fossil fuel projects favored by the administration poses an imminent harm to critical habitats and will damage precious resources in affected states.
While a host of energy projects are covered by the order, no federal agency has yet invoked that authority to issue a permit on an accelerated basis. As a result, the lawsuit may be susceptible to challenges based on principles of ripeness and standing. The states also face an uphill battle in disputing emergency declarations under the National Emergencies Act, which, like other executive actions, are afforded a high degree of judicial deference.
In this rapidly evolving dispute over the treatment of renewable energy development under the Trump administration, on May 12, 2025, proposed plaintiff-intervenor the Alliance for Clean Energy New York filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the offshore wind development case pending in federal court in Massachusetts. The Alliance seeks to restrain the Trump administration from imposing an effective ban on wind energy development.
Robinson & Cole’s Environmental, Energy + Telecommunications group will continue to track the battle lines being drawn between the administration and those states that have invested in renewable and clean energy, and how those legal disputes may impact project permitting and development.