Judge Smacks Down One Offshore Wind Stop-Work Order

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US President Donald Trump struck a mighty blow against offshore wind workers on December 22, when he ordered work to halt on five major offshore wind projects spanning five states along the Atlantic Coast, throwing hundreds of households into the unemployment lines. Or not, as the case may be. On January 12, a federal judge cleared the way for work to resume on one of the projects, the Revolution Wind offshore wind farm in Connecticut and Rhode Island, paving the way for the other four to resume construction as well. Meanwhile, about those Epstein files….

Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffery

Yes, it really is all about the Epstein files. For reasons best known only to himself, the President of the United States has been wielding the full powers of his office to distract public attention away from information on the late Jeffrey Epstein’s ventures in sex trafficking and other matters, including the period when Trump and Epstein were widely reported as besties. By Act of Congress, the Department of Justice was required to released the Epstein files by December 19 with only necessary redactions, a deadline that came and went.

Coming just three days after the Epstein deadline passed, the offshore wind stop-work order fell neatly into the distraction slot. After all, the order — issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the US Department of the Interior — was based on the existence of a suddenly uncovered threat to national security, a threat was so dire, destructive, and extreme there wasn’t even time to provide the governors of the impacted states with any advance notice of the potential harm to their own citizens.

Well, US District Judge for the District of Columbia Royce C. Lamberth, for one, did not buy what the Interior Department was selling. On January 12, he issued a preliminary injunction against the stop-work order for Revolution Wind, enabling construction to resume.

Do. Not. Mess. With. Judge. Lamberth.

What with extreme partisan politics dominating federal energy policy nowadays, it’s somewhat of a surprise to see a Republican-appointed judge apply the facts of a case in favor of the domestic offshore wind industry. Nevertheless, when the Interior Department first tried to stop work on Revolution Wind back in August, Judge Lamberth put his foot down.

The August stop-work order also cited an undefined threat to national security, and Judge Lamberth was not having it. Revolution Wind sued, and on September 22 Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction enabling work to resume. The Interior Department had 60 days to appeal but quietly let the matter drop, at least for the time being.

They should have let a sleeping dog lie. Lamberth was appointed to his position by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and has served as a Senior Judge since 2013. He is a former Chairman of the Federal Litigation Section of the Federal Bar Association, and he also formerly chaired the Professional Ethics Committee of the Federal Bar Association. “The Federal Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct for Federal Lawyers, finally approved in October 1990, were drafted by Judge Lamberth’s Committee,” reads his official bio.

All this is by way of saying that if the Interior Department starts complaining about a “woke judge” or some such canard, they are barking up the wrong tree.

Here Comes The Revolution Offshore Wind Project, Again

Direct quotes from the January 12 ruling are not available as of this writing because Judge Lamberth issued it from the bench, but Revolution Wind developer Ørsted was had a statement at the ready (Ørsted is 50-50 partners in the project with the Skyborn Renewables branch of Global Infrastructure Partners).

“Revolution Wind will determine how best it may be possible to work with the US Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution,” Ørsted stated on January 12, with “it may be possible” being perhaps a rather judicious way of referring to the president’s visibly declining physical and cognitive health.

“The Project will resume construction work as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority, and to deliver affordable, reliable power to the Northeast,” Ørsted emphasized.

As its own entity, Revolution Wind also cheered the preliminary injunction with a bit more optimism, though guardedly. “Revolution Wind will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the US Administration and other stakeholders toward a prompt resolution,” Revolution Wind stated.

Next Steps For The US Offshore Wind Industry

In consideration of Trump’s increasingly desperate attempts to deflect attention from the Epstein files, Revolution Wind and the four other offshore wind projects impacted by the stop-work order may yet prevail, if only because the president’s attention has drifted into other, more attention-getting areas.

The layers of flop sweat have been piling up in rapid-fire sequence since the beginning of the New Year, ranging from the (failed) attempt to take over the Venezuelan oil industry, the crazy-pants Marie Antoinette-adjacent plans for a massive “ballroom” on the grounds of the White House, and the dead-on-arrival idea of occupying Greenland by force.

Among other willy-nilly attempts to distract public attention from the Epstein files, Trump has also threatened to attack the Russia-allied nation of Cuba — a move straight out of left field, considering Trump’s longstanding support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The president has also been leaning on his immigration policy to distract attention from the Epstein files, with Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem, Vice President JD Vance, and the president himself endorsing and excusing the actions of masked thugs acting in the name of the federal government, up to and including into the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week.

What else? If you can think of anything else that registers on the Epstein distract-o-meter, drop a note in the comment thread.

Meanwhile, although Judge Lamberth’s preliminary injunction applies only to Revolution Wind, the ripple effect could ripple into lawsuits involving the other four projects: Empire Wind and South Fork Wind in New York, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project in Virginia.

The governors of the impacted states have all demanded a classified security briefing to shed some light on the supposed threat to the life and limbs of their citizens, with the notable exception of outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

Youngkin supported the CVOW offshore wind project during his term as governor, and he is still the governor until January 17 when Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be sworn in. However, so far he has declined to challenge the Trump administration over the December 22 stop-work order, perhaps because he is pondering his next move up the Republican Party ladder.

President Youngkin?… Hmmm….

Photo: The US offshore wind industry is not dead yet, as a federal judge enables work on the Revolution Wind project to carry on (cropped, courtesy of Ørsted).