New York — New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday over its decision to halt two large offshore wind projects expected to power more than 1 million homes in the state.
State Attorney General Letitia James said in legal challenges filed in federal court in Washington that the US Department of the Interior December 22 order The suspension of construction on projects off Long Island, citing national security concerns, was arbitrary and unjustified.
The Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind projects have already passed more than a decade of security and safety reviews by federal, state and local authorities, the Democrat said. She said her temporary suspension now threatens New York’s economy and power grid, and she asked the court to intervene.
“New Yorkers deserve clean, reliable energy, good-paying jobs, and a government that follows the law,” James said in a statement. “This reckless decision puts workers, families and our climate goals at risk.”
Spokespeople for the Interior Department and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which are named in the lawsuit, declined to comment Friday, citing the pending lawsuit.
The Interior Department last month ordered the suspension of Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and three other offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast. The department asserts that the movement of huge turbine blades can cause radar interference called “clutter,” which can obscure legitimate moving targets and generate false targets.
Trump has too Ignoring offshore wind developments Ugly, expensive and a threat to wildlife because it pushes fossil fuels over renewable energy to produce electricity.
Empire Wind is located about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) southeast of Long Island and is expected to come to power More than 500,000 homes. The Norwegian company Equinor, which is developing the project, said that the project completion rate reached about 60%.
Sunrise Wind is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk and is expected to be Electricity for about 600 thousand homes. Ørsted, the Danish energy company developing the project, said the project completion rate was about 45%.
Both developers have also submitted Their legal challengesas did the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
James previously led a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C Challenging Trump’s executive order Temporarily suspending approvals, permits and loans for all onshore and offshore wind energy projects.
Last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts sided with the prosecutors and vacated their positions January 20, 2025, order. Days later, the Trump administration issued a stop-work order on East Coast projects.