Attorney General Ellison secures court victory preventing Trump Administration from halting federal wind energy permitting
December 9, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Last night, Attorney General Ellison and a coalition of 18 attorneys general won their lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful order to freeze all federal permitting of wind energy projects.
In May, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to indefinitely halt all federal approvals necessary for the development of offshore and onshore wind energy projects pending federal review. Yesterday, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated and declared unlawful the Trump Administration’s actions, ruling that they were arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law.
"I am pleased to have defeated Donald Trump’s senseless attack on wind energy,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Minnesotans are counting on our state to keep energy costs as low as possible, help create good paying jobs, and combat climate change, and wind energy is helping us achieve all those goals. In fact, wind already supplies a quarter of all electricity in Minnesota. I will continue to do everything I can to stand up to the Trump Administration when it tramples on our rights or makes it harder for Minnesotans to afford their lives.”
Wind energy is particularly important to Minnesota, where it provides 1/4th of all electricity generated in Minnesota and 3/4ths of all renewable energy generated in the state. Increased wind energy will help achieve Minnesota’s emissions-reduction goals and provide a robust contribution to the state’s economy—including meaningful jobs for a highly-skilled workforce.
Minnesota law already requires all energy utilities to supply carbon-free electricity to Minnesotans by the year 2040. In 2023, Minnesota ranked eighth in the nation in wind capacity, and yesterday’s victory will help Minnesota build on those gains.
On January 20, President Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum that, among other things, indefinitely froze all federal approvals needed for the development of wind energy projects pending federal review. Pursuant to this directive, federal agencies stopped all permitting and approval activities.
In their lawsuit, the attorneys general alleged that the federal agencies’ actions harmed 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 agencies’ actions also threatened to thwart billions of dollars of states’ investments in wind industry infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce development.
The coalition argued that federal agencies’ actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the agencies, among other things, provided no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy approvals. The lawsuit also argued that the abrupt halt on all permitting violated numerous federal statutes that prescribe specific procedures and timelines for federal permitting and approvals—procedures the Administration wholly disregarded in stopping wind-energy development altogether.
Attorney General Ellison was joined in this matter by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
