The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched an appeal of a December federal court ruling that struck down Trump’s offshore wind permitting freeze.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson told a federal district court in Massachusetts that the administration would appeal an 18 December ruling from District Court Judge Patti Saris that ruled aspects of Trump’s January, 2025 presidential memorandum unlawful.
The appeal will be filed with the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Saris wrote in the December ruling: “An indefinite halt on issuing (or denying) all authorisations related to wind projects violates the statutory requirement that agencies must ‘proceed to conclude . . . matter[s] presented to” them ‘within a reasonable time.'”
The ruling came after 17 states and the District of Columbia filed suit against Trump for violations under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The ruling was celebrated by the US offshore wind industry.