Spencer Fane attorney John Watson shared his insights in the article, Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Wind Energy Moratorium, recently published by POWER Magazine.
In the article, which originated as a firm blog post, John discusses the Trump Administration’s Wind Energy Memorandum that was designed to halt development of wind power in the U.S. The court found that federal agencies implemented the directive without adequate explanation or consideration of existing policies and reliance interests. As a result, the executive action and related agency measures were declared unlawful and vacated.
“After concluding that both the state and industry plaintiffs had ‘standing’ to pursue their claims, and that the agencies’ actions were ‘final’ for purposes of appeal under the APA, the district court readily embraced one of the fundamental challenges by plaintiffs that focused on (1) the failure of the agencies to offer any explanation for the delays and disruptions to wind-energy permitting and development, other than referencing the Wind Memo, and (2) that the agencies failed to provide a reasoned explanation for the ‘sharp reversal of federal policy or decisions regarding wind-energy development,’” John wrote.
At the firm, John leverages his in-depth commercial trial and litigation knowledge to represent clients in a variety of complex commercial cases, including breach of contract actions, real estate and land development, special district litigation, construction disputes between contractors and subcontractors, securities litigation, public land and natural resources law, mining, oil and gas, wildlife, toxic tort, Superfund, and air, water, and waste environmental cases.
Read the full article here.