Op-ed: The Court’s Fight Back: A Check on an Abuse of Power

On April 21, 2026, a federal judge blocked the Trump Administration from enforcing a series of restrictions that have thwarted numerous renewable energy projects. A group of nine regional energy companies filed a lawsuit in December of 2025 against the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This group—consisting of Alliance for Clean Energy New York, RENEW Northeast, Southern Renewable Energy North, Green Energy Consumers Alliance (GECA), Renewable Northwest, Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition Action (MAREC), Clean Grid Alliance, Carolinas Clean Energy Business Association, and Interwest Energy Alliance—challenged six of the Trump Administration’s actions that unlawfully punish wind and solar energy. These actions include a heightened review process from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office for DOI approvals of wind and solar projects on federal lands, blocking projects from using the Information for Planning and Consulting (IPaC) database that allows for the identification of potential impacts on endangered species and other environmental needs, and the Army Corps of Engineers “capacity density” rule that stalled the review of permits for renewable energy projects.

Former Interior Department officials have spoken out, saying it is unfeasible for the secretary to approve the multitude of small decisions needed for project approvals. This implementation by the administration can create extensive delays. Massachusetts federal judge Denise J. Casper issued a preliminary injunction to stop the implementation of these policies. A preliminary junction is a temporary court order, issued before the final trial of a lawsuit, that halts certain actions to prevent immediate harm. She ruled that the administration’s actions violated federal statute and would cause irreparable damage without the court’s intervention. Environmental groups, such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed amicus briefs in the case to support the clean energy groups.