A federal judge at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revoked a permit for New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy farm, potentially obstructing or ending the ambitions of the project entirely.
Environmental Appeals Court Judge Mary Kay Lynch remanded a Clean Air Act permit back to the U.S. EPA, which was issued last September to Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind. The move closely follows President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 memo calling for a review of the federal government’s “leasing and permitting practices for wind projects” and a temporary withdrawal of all areas on the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leasing.
The remanded permit authorized Atlantic Shores “to construct and operate two wind energy generation projects off the coast of New Jersey,” though it will now be pending review, according to the new ruling.
EPA officials filed a motion on Feb. 28 to have the court remand the offshore wind permit, so that the agency could reevaluate the project’s environmental impacts. The EPA, now led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, has taken several actions within the past month alone to eliminate climate and renewable green energy initiatives that were greenlit under previous presidential administrations.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities granted Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind a contract in 2021 for 1.5 megawatts of renewable energy to be generated in a facility off the coast of Atlantic City. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is a renewable energy company with “three offshore wind energy lease areas totaling more than 400 square miles under active development,” according to its website. Friday’s court decision seems to cast a grim shadow on the future of the project.
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“Expanding New Jersey’s offshore wind industry is a major component of achieving our goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, while providing significant opportunities and economic benefits for our state,” Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement in 2021.
President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Joseph L. Fiordaliso said in the same 2021 press release that “under Governor Murphy’s leadership, we have made significant progress toward our goal of 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035 and will continue fighting for a clean energy future that benefits all New Jersey residents, improves public health, mitigates climate change, and bolsters our economy with sustainable, good-paying jobs.”
Protests erupted over the offshore wind farms between 2023 and 2025, as protesters raised concerns over high-powered cables running through residential neighborhoods and dead whales and dolphins washing up on the Jersey Shore. Wind turbines off the coast of New England have also previously shed debris into the ocean, prompting environmentalists’ concerns for wildlife.
This is not the first hurdle for the Atlantic Shores project, as Shell pulled its planned $1 billion investment in January of this year. A few days later, New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities abandoned plans for a fourth offshore wind solicitation for bids. This effectively ended the expansion of Atlantic Shores.
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“Atlantic Shores is disappointed by the EPA’s decision to pull back its fully executed permit as regulatory certainty is critical to deploying major energy projects,” the company’s statement reads. “Atlantic Shores stands ready to deliver on the promise of American energy dominance and has devoted extensive time and resources to follow a complex, multi-year permitting process, resulting in final project approvals that conform with the law.”
Trump moved quickly to reverse several of former President Joe Biden’s green energy policies, invoking a freeze on permits for and construction of new wind projects on federal land and waters.
The Biden administration supported and subsidized efforts to meet its goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030, though the push reeled as inflation, high interest rates and logistics forced postponements and cancellations of major projects.
The administration also championed the Inflation Reduction Act, a more than $1 trillion dollar climate bill.
Trump’s Jan. 20 memo cites “environmental impact and cost to surrounding communities of defunct and idle windmills” as major concerns surrounding offshore wind farms. Allegations of deadly impacts on whales and other marine mammals have also made headlines.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
