As of April 21, 2026, a federal judge ruled that the Department of Interior and the Army Corps of Engineer must end a set of policies that limit solar and wind energy permitting on federal land while litigation over the issue plays out. [1] 57.2 GW of wind, solar, hybrid, and offshore wind capacity have been canceled or remain at risk of cancellation or delay beyond 2029. [2] RENEW Northeast, the Southern Renewable Energy Association, Interwest Energy Alliance, and other clean energy groups showed that their members faced imminent harm by 5 policy actions of the Trump administration, leading US District Court judge Denise Casper to grant their request for a preliminary injunction. [3] Casper stated that the plaintiffs are likely to win their suit since they showed that the public interest favors preliminary relief from the agency actions because they harm the public by delaying and preventing the development of wind and solar energy projects in the US. [4] This injunction affects five issues: the DOI review procedures memo which listed 68 permitting actions subject to review by the DOI secretary for solar and wind; a ban on the use of the Information for Planning and Consultation website for solar and wind developers; the DOI “land order” which barred wind and solar projects on federal land by requiring ‘capacity density’ consideration; an Army Corps’ memo that directs the agency to prioritize its permit reviews to high capacity density projects; and the Zerzan M-opinion, which effectively bars new offshore wind projects. [5] [6]
[1] https://ipac.ecosphere.fws.gov/
[3] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.293725/gov.uscourts.mad.293725.89.0.pdf
[6] https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-05/m-37086.pdf
