First Circuit Dismisses Appeal Over 2025 Wind Permit Freeze, Ending Trump Challenge
Updated
Updated · KOMO News · Jun 16
First Circuit Dismisses Appeal Over 2025 Wind Permit Freeze, Ending Trump Challenge
3 articles · Updated · KOMO News · Jun 16
Summary
Monday’s First Circuit judgment ended the case after the Trump administration dropped its appeal of a ruling blocking its federal wind-energy permitting freeze.
A federal judge in December 2025 had found the Jan. 20, 2025 memo halting offshore and onshore wind approvals arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law.
The multistate coalition argued the indefinite freeze violated the Administrative Procedure Act and federal permitting statutes by offering no reasoned basis and ignoring required timelines.
Washington said the halt threatened its clean-energy targets and economy; wind generated 8,421 thousand megawatt hours in the state in 2024, second only to hydropower among renewables.