Despite court ruling, Trump is keeping nearly all wind projects in the US on hold

Nearly all wind energy projects in the United States are still on pause almost a month after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s freeze on vertical height clearances for wind turbines was likely illegal. The administration has control over airspace higher than 200 feet, and therefore has control over wind projects on both private and public land, writes Jael Holzman for Heatmap.

On Sept. 17, the Trump administration provided its first update to the federal court since the ruling. Heatmap reports: 

The administration claimed that “as a matter of policy” it had “resumed processing wind energy project applications,” but it only described a single instance where a company had heard from the military about moving forward. In addition, that company as well as all others affected by the freeze would still face a “new analytical methodology” for federal agencies reviewing height clearances for all projects, which appears to fly in the face of the ruling. The Justice Department did not provide any more detail about the methodology in its status update to the court.

According to the Department of Justice, at least 110 wind energy projects were in active discussion with the federal government before the injunction, and none have heard from officials since. Another 50 projects are awaiting initial meetings with the federal government.