California AG Rob Bonta: “Today, we celebrate another victory against the Trump Administration”
California – California Attorney General Rob Bonta is praising a federal court decision that prevents the Trump Administration from stopping wind energy development across the country. He says the ruling is a strong rejection of what states said was an illegal policy change.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said that the Administration’s plan to stop both offshore and onshore wind projects was against the law. The ruling cancels an executive order that President Trump signed on his first day in office that put an end to all federal approvals for wind energy projects. The case initiated by a group of state attorneys general is over now that the injunction has been overturned, but the verdict can still be appealed.
Bonta said that the court agreed with California and other states that the federal government went too far by getting in the way of state-led initiatives to make energy cleaner, more reliable, and cheaper.
“Today, we celebrate another victory against the Trump Administration. A court has agreed with California and our sister states nationwide: The Trump Administration’s attempt to thwart states’ efforts to make energy more clean, reliable, and affordable for our residents is unlawful and cannot stand,” said Attorney General Bonta.
“The Trump Administration seems intent on raising costs on American families at every juncture — and California is equally committed to challenging every one of its illegal attempts to make life more expensive for Californians.”
The executive memorandum, which was issued on January 20, 2025, instructed federal agencies to stop all permitting and approvals for wind projects while they examined leasing and permitting methods in a way that wasn’t clear. Because of this, progress on wind development across the country came to a halt.
The order had enormous effects in California. The state depends on onshore wind, and it also has five federal offshore wind leases—two near Humboldt and three off Morro Bay. The projects are intended to provide enough clean energy for almost 1.6 million homes, as well as create union jobs and promote business on the North Coast.
In May, Bonta joined a lawsuit in several states that said the government action put the reliability of energy at risk, elevated the possibility of higher consumer costs, and hurt years of investment in wind infrastructure, supply chains, and training for workers. The court’s decision gives those efforts new life and confirms that states can seek wind energy as part of their larger clean energy aspirations.
