Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of 18 attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful attempt to freeze the development of wind energy.

“Oregon has seen firsthand how onshore wind projects – like those in Gilliam and Morrow counties – create jobs and power communities,” Rayfield said. “This kind of abrupt federal interference risks real economic harm in places that have invested in clean energy for years.”

On January 20, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum that, among other things, indefinitely halted all federal approvals necessary for the development of wind energy projects pending federal review. Because of this directive, federal agencies have stopped all permitting and approval activities. Wind energy is a homegrown source of reliable, affordable energy that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, creates billions of dollars in economic activity and tax payments, and supplies more than 10% of the country’s electricity.

The attorneys general allege that the President’s directive harms their states’ efforts to secure reliable, diversified, and affordable sources of energy to meet their increasing demand for electricity and help reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants, meet clean energy goals, and address climate change. The directive also threatens to thwart the states’ significant investments in wind industry infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce development—investments that already total billions of dollars.

The coalition argues that the President’s directive and federal agencies’ subsequent implementation of it violate the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because they, among other things, provide no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy development—a sudden change that reverses longstanding federal policy and is inconsistent with recent federal action propping up other forms of energy.

In filing this lawsuit, the attorneys general are asking the Court to declare the President’s directive illegal and prevent the Administration from taking any action to delay or prevent wind energy development.