science
Six States Sue to Block Deal Canceling Offshore Wind Lease
New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont filed suit against the Trump administration to reverse an agreement that canceled a TotalEnergies offshore wind lease off New York in exchange for fossil-fuel investments.
Jun 2, 1:02 PM·1m read1 source
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Six states sued the Trump administration to reverse a deal that canceled TotalEnergies’s rights to build an offshore wind farm off New York in exchange for the company investing in U.S. oil, gas, and liquefied natural gas projects. The states said the lease would have supplied electricity to New York and New Jersey and supported both states’ climate targets and grid reliability.
The Interior Department and TotalEnergies announced earlier this year that the company would forgo the wind lease and instead invest about $1 billion in fossil-fuel production, with the federal government reimbursing the company up to the amount it paid for the lease.
The complaint targets the New York lease and argues the arrangement is an improper use of public funds. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the agreement pressures a foreign company to abandon planned offshore wind projects in favor of gas and oil drilling.
After the TotalEnergies agreement, the Trump administration announced similar arrangements with two other companies that held offshore wind rights. The administration has previously attempted to stop construction of offshore wind farms and has added regulatory requirements for both offshore and onshore wind and solar projects.
