A US conservative think tank has launched a fresh effort to stop the 806MW Iberdrola-CIP joint venture Vineyard Wind dead in its tracks.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) filed a petition this week with US President Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, asking the secretary to direct the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to “investigate and reconsider the approval process” of the Construction and Operations Plan for the array off the coast of Massachusetts.
The letter also asks Burgum to order a halt to all construction activities pending the results of investigation.
The previous administration of President Joe Biden “sidestepped its duties” under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act when it approved the project, the TPPF argued.
The request coincides with an announcement this week that the Department of the Interior will “review its policies to identify and remove favouritism toward unreliable energy”, and will publish a report of recommended reforms to federal renewables policy.
The Department of the Interior also announced this week that it is withdrawing all unleased Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) from the outer continental shelf, previously lined up for offshore wind auctions.
The TPPF had previously sought to stop Vineyard Wind through the courts, which fell short when the US Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling upholding the project.