“The Trump Administration’s backroom buyout with Golden State Wind to stop offshore wind development in favor of gas and oil drilling is, unfortunately, a classic playbook for them to line the pockets of their Big Oil donors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the state Energy Commission have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC over the federal government’s “unlawful buyout” of the company’s offshore wind-energy lease.
In a press release, Bonta’s office said that the buyout jeopardizes thousands of “high-quality jobs and the State’s investments” in California’s offshore wind-energy industry, including from voter-approved climate bonds. The canceled projects could also set the state’s “burgeoning” offshore wind industry back by several years.
“The Trump Administration’s backroom buyout with Golden State Wind to stop offshore wind development in favor of gas and oil drilling is, unfortunately, a classic playbook for them to line the pockets of their Big Oil donors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Let’s be clear: California will continue to aggressively fight back against the Trump administration’s outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars to abandon offshore wind investments that could have delivered union-paying jobs and reliable clean energy to Californians.”
Under the agreement between the Trump administration and Golden Wind, the U.S. Department of Interior allegedly broke the law by reallocating $120 million in taxpayer dollars to pay Golden State Wind to abandon its lease in federal waters off California’s Central Coast; the agreement also requires the company to an invest an equal amount of money in out-of-state fossil fuel projects that will do little, if anything, to advance California’s economic interests.
The lawsuit contends that the deal is unlawful and requests an injunction against its fulfillment.
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta and CEC (collectively California) assert that the cancellation of the Golden State Wind lease will harm the state’s clean energy and climate goals and its economy,” Bonta’s office said. “Offshore wind is expected to play a role in this plan due to its potential to generate vast amounts of electricity from strong, consistent winds off California’s coast. California’s offshore wind strategic plan calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply ensuring that the state has enough energy to meet that demand, to accelerate California’s clean energy transition, create local manufacturing jobs, and drive economic development, especially in Long Beach and Humboldt ports where offshore wind turbines were expected to be staged and assembled. Cancelled offshore wind projects threaten to deprive California of more than 174,750 jobs, infrastructure investment, and long-term economic development.”
David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission, emphasized that the offshore wind lease was supposed to help the state “scale up” its clean energy innovation.
“Offshore wind presents an opportunity for our state to scale up an innovative new clean energy industry that reduces pollution while providing new jobs and investment for the people of our state,” Hochschild said in a statement. “We will not let the Trump administration’s reckless actions turn back the clock. California’s clean energy future is worth fighting for. See you in court.”
Sources
Attorney General Bonta Announces Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Trump Administration Wind Deal
California sues Trump administration over offshore wind lease cancelation
California Sues Trump Administration Over Offshore Wind Cancellation
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