According to the states, the Interior Department paid Bluepoint $765 million from the taxpayer-funded Judgment Fund, which is used for legal settlements \u2014 money that will go to building a liquefied natural gas facility as the federal government pulls the plug on offshore wind developments.<\/p>\n
In the second deal, the states say the department canceled three offshore leases and paid Invenergy $653 million\u00a0from the same fund, which will go toward natural gas plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, and to geothermal projects in the western United States.<\/p>\n
Energy from the fossil fuel projects is not expected to fuel New York\u2019s grid.<\/p>\n
California filed a separate lawsuit challenging a deal with Invenergy to cancel a West Coast lease.<\/p>\n
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong accused Trump of \u201cputting corporate profits ahead of American families\u201d while the country desperately needs renewable energy to drive down costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is taking our tax dollars for business bribes to block offshore wind so that Big Oil can keep extracting maximum profits from old fossil fuel infrastructure,\u201d Tong said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The states accuse the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Judgment Fund Act, and are seeking judgments declaring the agreements unlawful and voiding the lease cancellations.<\/p>\n
Trump has long opposed wind energy development and has said it\u2019s his goal not to let any windmills be built in the U.S., a message echoed by his administration\u2019s Interior Department.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder this administration, there is not a future for offshore wind because it is too expensive and not reliable enough,\u201d Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last year.<\/p>\n
Last year a federal judge ruled<\/a> against the Trump administration\u2019s effort to block an offshore wind farm in New England, Revolution Wind<\/a>, which was already nearly 80% complete.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also an ongoing lawsuit in the District of Columbia over the Interior Department\u2019s cancellation of the TotalEnergies offshore wind lease off the coast of New York.<\/p>\n In response to a request for comment on Tuesday\u2019s lawsuits, an Interior Department spokesperson referred to the deals as \u201csettlements\u201d that \u201cwent through the appropriate channels.\u201d The representative also pointed to security concerns but did not respond to a follow-up inquiry as to what those concerns are.<\/p>\n \u201cThis administration will not sit back and let reckless projects create higher utility costs, a weakened energy system and unnecessary harm to the environment,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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