Administration Drops Appeal of Wind Energy Permit Freeze Ruling

The Justice Department moved on June 10 to dismiss its appeal of a federal court ruling that overturned an executive order freezing federal permitting and leasing for wind energy projects. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit granted the voluntary dismissal on Monday, ending the administration's challenge to the December ruling that found the January 2025 order unlawful.

A coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, DC, filed the original lawsuit in May 2025. The coalition had challenged the executive order as exceeding presidential authority. The appeals court decision leaves in place the lower court finding that the order was arbitrary and capricious.

A report by the Environmental Defense Fund and Atlas Public Policy projects 79.7 GW of new clean power capacity coming online in 2026. The same report shows 222 GW of clean energy capacity planned or under construction nationwide. Solar and battery storage account for 85 percent of the planned pipeline.

Developers have announced $377 billion in new project investments through 2031. The United States already operates 471 GW of clean power, with 51.6 GW added in 2025.

A separate federal court on June 6 overturned an August 2025 Treasury rule that had restricted wind and solar projects from qualifying for federal tax credits. The ruling returned the matter to the IRS for reconsideration. Planned natural gas capacity rose from 44.8 GW at the end of 2025 to 65.5 GW by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Eighty percent of existing, planned, and under-construction clean power capacity is located in congressional districts represented by Republicans.