Federal Judges Let 5 East Coast Wind Farms Resume as Trump Security Claims Falter
Updated
Updated · PBS NewsHour · Jul 17
Federal Judges Let 5 East Coast Wind Farms Resume as Trump Security Claims Falter
3 articles · Updated · PBS NewsHour · Jul 17
Summary
Five East Coast offshore wind projects can restart after federal judges reviewed classified material and rejected the Trump administration’s bid to keep construction frozen.
November 2025 defense information had prompted the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt the projects days before Christmas, with Interior arguing new radar, drone and sonar risks made them national security threats.
Judges were unconvinced that the concerns were applied project by project; Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the rationale for at least one order may have been pretextual.
Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said a classified briefing months ago did not make a compelling case and is pushing a 180-day deadline for military reviews of wind projects.
The rulings undercut a broader Trump effort to curb wind development, including lease buybacks and delays to onshore projects, even as radar-mitigation systems are already used in Europe and the UK.