A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against a Department of the Interior policy that required secretarial-level approval for all renewable energy projects on public lands, effectively stalling tens of gigawatts of capacity.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts moved to halt the restrictive memorandum, ruling that administrative hurdles placed on developers were likely “arbitrary and capricious.” Industry advocates argued the policy created a “de facto blockade” that threatened to derail utility-scale projects and undermine national decarbonization targets.
This ruling is a win for affordable energy in America, a win for American consumers, and a win for workers. Energy costs are rising for Americans, and the only way to put downward pressure on prices is with more power, not less. Low-cost, quick-to-deploy solar and storage are key to meeting the Trump Administration’s goals of keeping costs down for Americans and bolstering our AI leadership on the world stage. This is a constructive step forward toward letting America’s solar and storage industry build and deliver more American energy to households and businesses nationwide. Solar Energy Industries Association president and chief executive officer Darren Van’t Hof
The administrative bottleneck had put an estimated 57 GW of clean energy at risk, complicating efforts to streamline grid access for large-scale developments. This judicial intervention comes as the industry remains hyper-focused on permitting reform to address the massive backlog in interconnection queues.
While federal agencies continue to allocate funding for manufacturing and infrastructure, the legal friction over federal land use highlights the challenges of deploying energy storage and solar at the pace required by climate goals.
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A preliminary injunction is NOT like good law written by congress sustaining renewable energy. We had that good law under Obama and Biden administrations, and we need to get that good law back. We need renewable energy supporters in congress, and it is primary time in most states. This is NOT a party issue; it is a survival issue that should cross party lines. This is when the people chose the energy future that deserve. Wind and Solar or Coal and Oil. Find out where your candidates stand and take the time to VOTE. Our future depends on it. Humanities future depends on it. GO VOTE!
Thanks, Ryan –
It would be more than nice for US to keep up with the rest of the world,
rather than it continuing to cripple itself in every significant metric.
Oil [and gas] will never be replaced.
Oil’s non-energy, Materials Industry,
should remain strong.
[except for maybe plastics? (ocean plastic farming, someday? How?) : Bamboo instead? .. “Pipe” dream?].