For the second time during the current Trump administration, a federal court judge has found the administration is violating U.S. administrative law in its efforts to stop the wind energy sector. On Thursday, August 6, Judge Karin Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued a preliminary injunction and instructed the Pentagon to resume its reviews of wind energy project applications.
Earlier in the week, after a hearing, the judge had said she was inclined to issue the order to restart the reviews. Lawyers for the Defense Department reportedly said the reviews were proceeding, but when she asked for a specific example, they did not name a single project. While the decision largely impacts onshore wind energy projects, it is the second time this year that a judge has said the administration cannot arbitrarily suspend the review of wind energy projects.
Shortly after returning to the White House in January 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order directing a review of the entire process for permitting wind energy projects. He refers to them as “wind mills” and insists they are not economically sound projects, as well as objecting to them as “ugly.” Read on.
