Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter
It's Monday, so that means it's a brand new week for lawfare from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
Today, Tong joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for temporarily pausing federal permitting for massive wind farms that "degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American consumers" according to President Trump.
The January 20th White House memorandum pointed to the need to "foster an energy economy capable of meeting the country’s growing demand for reliable energy, the importance of marine life, impacts on ocean currents and wind patterns, effects on energy costs for Americans –- especially those who can least afford it –- and to ensure that the United States is able to maintain a robust fishing industry for future generations and provide low cost energy to its citizens."
The withdrawal temporarily prevents consideration of any area in the Offshore Continental Shelf for any new or renewed wind energy leasing for the purposes of generation of electricity or any other such use derived from the use of wind.
The memorandum further highlights consequences which may lead to grave harm — including negative impacts on navigational safety interests, transportation interests, national security interests, commercial interests, and marine mammals.
President Trump is explicitly recognizing the "detrimental environmental impact, particularly on wildlife" caused by wind turbines.
The media is ridiculing Trump for saying that wind turbines are killing the whales. But they are. There were 12 whale deaths off the East Coast in December alone. The North Atlantic right whale species will go extinct unless the Trump administration acts to end the slaughter. pic.twitter.com/X4m9I7pam9
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) January 8, 2025
However, the environmental harm caused by wind turbines doesn't appear to be a matter of concern to the lawfare crowd.
“This is yet another lawless effort by Donald Trump to enrich the fossil fuel industry and illegally micromanage state business. Connecticut has the right to secure our energy future, and one that makes the most sense for our costs and climate,” said Attorney General Tong.
The AG coalition said 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 Wind Directive and its implementation harm Connecticut’s ability to protect its residents, as part of a broader effort, from the growing impacts of climate change" and "threaten the reliability of Connecticut’s electricity grid" according to the lawsuit which explicitly states that Connecticut "has worked to shift reliance away from fossil fuels."
The lawsuit argues that wind energy helps to "insulate the state’s electricity ratepayers from price spikes and volatility associated with fossil fuels" though most Connecticut electric customers would argue the real price spikes are coming from those outrageous "public benefits" charges. The move away from fossil fuels is in alignment with the globalist agenda.
The AGs further 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." They also argue that the directive "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 claims 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." The lawsuit also alleges that the "abrupt halt on all permitting violates 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."
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.
Joining Attorney General Tong in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Assistant Attorney General Jill Lacedonia and Deputy Associate Attorney General Matthew Levine, Chief of the Environment Section, are assisting the Attorney General in this matter.