Massachusetts has joined forces with 16 other states to push back against the Trump administration’s executive order that halted the permitting of offshore wind energy projects. 

The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston on Monday, arguing the administration has unlawfully attempted to freeze development of the emerging industry – a large portion of which has taken root in the waters south of the Vineyard. 

“Massachusetts has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind to ensure our residents have access to well-paying green jobs and reliable, affordable energy that helps meet our clean energy and climate goals,” attorney general Andrea Campbell said in a statement. “The President’s attempts to stop homegrown wind energy development directly contradict his claims that there is a growing need for reliable domestic energy.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his administration, putting all federal permitting for offshore wind projects on hold while the Department of Interior conducts a review of the ecological, economic and environmental effects of offshore leases. 

There has been no timeline given for the review, and the order has had a ripple effect on projects that were still in the regulatory pipeline.

“My colleagues and I will continue to challenge this administration’s unlawful actions to chill investment and growth of this critical industry,” Ms. Campbell said.

Even projects that had been approved have come under threat. On April 16, the Department of the Interior halted construction on Empire Wind, an already approved project off the coast of New York. 

In the lawsuit, the states argue that the executive order has no reasoned explanation for the indefinite halt and offered no justification to explain the abrupt change in federal policy. Stopping the permitting process also contradicts the Trump administration’s past declaration of an energy emergency, according to the 100-page complaint. 

Ms. Campbell and the other attorneys general allege that President Trump’s directives harm the states attempts to secure reliable and renewable energy sources, and endanger billions of dollars in investment in the offshore wind industry. 

Massachusetts has been counting on offshore wind to help the state meet its climate goals, and the state’s attorney general’s office said that without offshore wind energy, the cost of energy in New England is expected to increase by about 50 per cent by 2050. So far, the state has invested more than $330 million in infrastructure, workforce training, supply chains and research for the new renewable energy industry. 

The waters south of the Island are the epicenter of the offshore wind energy industry, with nine projects planned for an 800,000 square-acre area. Vineyard Wind, which has its operations headquarters in Vineyard Haven, was the first utility-scale offshore wind project to be approved in the U.S. and several more projects were following in its wake until the permitting freeze. 

The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court to declare the directive illegal and prevent the administration from delaying any more wind development. The claim comes just days after Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said that American tax dollars would no longer be used on wind energy projects. 

“The offshore wind industry has relied on tax subsidies for 30 years – not anymore,” Mr. Burgum wrote on social media Sunday. 

President Trump also made several threats to offshore wind during his campaign. 

The federal government has yet to respond officially to the lawsuit in court, and an initial hearing date has not yet been scheduled.