Trump admin targets a 4th offshore wind project

The Trump administration asked a federal judge Wednesday for another look at a permit. The permit covers the New England Wind project. Regulators already approved this offshore wind project, off the coast of Massachusetts. This is the fourth offshore wind project the administration has gone after this way in recent months. The request doesn't cancel the permit outright. It opens the door to canceling it later.

New England Wind would have up to 129 turbines, enough to power more than 900,000 homes. The administration is siding with anti-wind groups that sued to overturn its approval in the first place. Normally, once regulators approve a project like this, developers can start building with some confidence. Reconsidering an already-approved permit undercuts that confidence for every offshore wind project still in the pipeline.

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Will the judge actually grant the administration's request? Three other offshore wind projects have already faced similar challenges this year. If this pattern continues, companies planning new offshore wind farms may stop trusting a federal approval as the finish line. That uncertainty could slow clean energy construction well beyond this one project.