One of New York\u2019s offshore wind projects is back on track, for now.<\/p>\n
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction for Norwegian energy firm Equinor to resume construction on its New York offshore wind project, Empire 1.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration issued an order to stop work last year on offshore wind projects, citing unspecified safety and national security concerns. Equinor\u2019s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s work stoppage will proceed. The White House responded to a request for comment on the injunction by calling wind energy \u201cthe scam of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmpire Wind will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period,\u201d Equinor spokesperson David Schoetz wrote in a statement. \u201cThe project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stop work order also extended to the Sunrise wind project from Danish energy firm Orsted, which is also seeking a preliminary injunction against the order. That case remains pending. A judge granted Orsted a preliminary injunction related to a wind project off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island earlier this week<\/p>\n
The New York attorney general\u2019s office filed a lawsuit last week against the blockage of the state\u2019s wind projects, calling the order \u201carbitrary and capricious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m sick and tired of having to go to court time and time and time again to stop these decisions,\u201d New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. \u201cThey’re designed to do nothing other than hurt workers, hurt our states, hurt our economy and hurt our energy future. So we won.\u201d<\/p>\n