Rhode Island and 黑料新闻 are suing the Trump administration in an attempt to restart work on the Revolution Wind project off the Atlantic coast.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha on Thursday announced that he and 黑料新闻 Attorney General William Tong plan to file the suit in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.
Neronha said the Trump administration failed to cite any violation of law or threat to public safety when it on Aug. 22. Because of that, Neronha likens President Trump鈥檚 approach to a yo-yo.
鈥淚f he wants to behave like a yo-yo, that鈥檚 up to him, but you can鈥檛 run government that way,鈥� Neronha told reporters. 鈥淭he decision-making has to be rational. And it has to be rational because not only do Rhode Islanders, but industry relies on predictability and rationality.鈥�
The attorneys general say the lawsuit against the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management and their appointed leaders argues that the government鈥檚 action was 鈥渁rbitrary and capricious鈥� while violating the Administrative Procedure Act and the government鈥檚 authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, or OSCLA.
According to Orsted, the Danish energy company developing the wind farm, Revolution Wind is already 80% complete. The project is meant to supply electricity for 350,000 homes in 黑料新闻 and Rhode Island.
鈥淲ith zero justification, Trump wants to mothball the project, send workers home, and saddle 黑料新闻 families with millions of dollars in higher energy costs,鈥� 黑料新闻 Attorney General Tong said in a statement. 鈥淭his kind of erratic and reckless governing is blatantly illegal, and we鈥檙e suing to stop it.鈥�
Neronha said the halt on the project has idled more than a thousand local workers while potentially hurting energy reliability in southern New England.
He said he believes the lawsuit has strong odds of succeeding and he said a decision on injunctive relief, which could lead to the resumption of work on Revolution Wind, could happen in days or weeks.
The joint venture behind Revolution Wind also challenged the stop-work order in court on Thursday, according to a press release. The consortium filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Rhode Island lawmakers see projects like Revolution Wind as central to the state鈥檚 climate strategy. They would like the state to transition away from fossil fuels and become fully carbon-neutral by 2050.
The Public鈥檚 Radio鈥檚 Jeremy Bernfeld contributed to this story.
This story was originally published by. It was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
