State Coalitions Challenge Trump Administration's National Security Freeze on Onshore Wind Energy
The multi-state legal battle over the Trump administration's unilateral freeze on onshore wind energy project reviews has escalated. On July 16, 2026, a coalition of 19 state attorneys general, led by Illinois AG Kwame Raoul and Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, filed a motion to intervene in the federal lawsuit Renewable Northwest et al. v. Peter B. Hegseth et al. (No. 3:26-cv-01092, D. Or.). The lawsuit, originally filed on May 31, 2026, by environmental and wind industry groups, challenges the Department of Defense's (DOD) complete halt on reviewing onshore wind projects since August 2025.
This intervention is part of a broader, highly coordinated effort by state leaders to challenge the Trump administration's aggressive "war on wind," which has stymied both onshore and offshore wind projects through bureaucratic permitting freezes, lease cancellations, and tax credit rollbacks.
The DOD Onshore Wind Permitting Freeze
The DOD's permitting freeze has created a severe bottleneck, halting more than 155 onshore wind projects nationwide, representing dozens of gigawatts of potential clean energy. Under federal law, proposed wind turbine projects over 200 feet tall must undergo routine national security reviews by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the DOD to ensure they do not interfere with military testing, training, or radar systems.
Prior to President Trump's second term, these reviews were predictable and collaborative. However, the states allege that in August 2025, the DOD quietly stopped signing agreements or communicating with developers, leaving projects stuck in limbo. The delays threaten the viability of these projects by causing them to miss deadlines to connect to the grid or lock in federal tax credits.
In Washington state, Attorney General Nick Brown noted that five projects totaling over 1,600 megawatts are stuck in limbo, stating:
“The federal government claims we’re in an energy emergency and yet unlawfully stands in the way of projects seeking to harness an excellent renewable source of energy—wind.”
The joining states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
The Defense Department defended its actions, stating it is "actively evaluating" projects in a complex process "to balance renewable energy development with the protection and preservation of testing, training, and operational readiness." However, President Trump has repeatedly expressed his hostility to wind energy, stating in March:
“I’m proudly telling you that we’re going to try and have no windmills built in the United States.”
Broader "War on Wind" Litigation and Lease Cancellations
Beyond the onshore freeze, the Trump administration has faced a wave of litigation over its efforts to dismantle offshore wind development.
Key active cases and developments include:
- Offshore Lease Cancellations (State of New York et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al., No. 1:26-cv-01910, D.D.C.): On June 2, 2026, New York and six other states sued the Department of the Interior (DOI) challenging agreements with offshore wind developers to cancel and refund wind leases in exchange for fossil fuel infrastructure investments. In recent weeks, the DOI announced two additional sets of agreements to cancel six more offshore wind leases. In response, California sent two notices of intent to sue over cancellations in Morro Bay and the Central Coast, while eight East Coast states sent notices of intent to sue over cancellations in the New York Bight.
- IRS Tax Credit Win (Oregon Environmental Council v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 1:25-cv-04400, D.D.C.): On June 6, 2026, a federal court ruled in favor of environmental plaintiffs, granting summary judgment and vacating an IRS notice that had implemented a July 2025 executive order ending federal tax credits for certain wind and solar facilities.
- Agency Discrimination Injunction (Renew Northeast et al. v. DOI, No. 1:25-cv-13961, D. Mass.): On April 21, 2026, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction challenging systematic agency decisions disfavoring wind and solar technologies. The government is currently appealing the ruling to the 1st Circuit.
- Revolution Wind Injunction (Revolution Wind, LLC v. Burgum, No. 1:25-cv-02999, D.D.C.): On January 12, 2026, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of the Department of Energy's stop-work order for the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island.
These legal battles demonstrate that while the executive branch has utilized immense administrative power to slow down renewable energy development, state AGs and environmental groups have been largely successful in using the federal courts to block or delay these policies.1
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An instance of Unilateral executive overreach over the administrative state triggers a procedural backlash from federal courts. — It demonstrates how state-led coalitions are consistently leveraging federal court litigation to challenge and stay the executive branch's unilateral bureaucratic permitting freezes. ↩︎