- Climate Litigation Database
- /
- Search
- /
- United States
- /
- Rhode Island
- /
- Rhode Island v. U.S. Department of the Interior
Litigation
Rhode Island v. U.S. Department of the Interior
About this case
Documents
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
09/26/2025
Motion
Motion filed by federal defendants to hold plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction in abeyance or for an extension of time.
After the federal district court for the District of Columbia granted a motion for preliminary injunction lifting the Stop Work Order in a case brought by the project’s developer, the federal defendants asked the Rhode Island court to hold the preliminary injunction motion in the states’ case in abeyance.
09/18/2025
Motion To Intervene
Motion to intervene as defendant filed by Green Oceans.
Green Oceans, a nonprofit organization that is a plaintiff in <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/green-oceans-v-u-s-department-of-the-interior_d5e99b">litigation</a> challenging federal approval of Revolution Wind, moved to intervene as a defendant.
09/17/2025
Motion
Motion filed by federal defendants to transfer venue.
The federal defendants asked the court to transfer the states’ case to the District of Columbia, where a lawsuit brought by the project developer was pending.
09/17/2025
Motion
Motion for preliminary injunction filed.
The states filed a motion for a preliminary injunction lifting the Stop Work Order.
09/04/2025
Complaint
Complaint filed.
On September 4, 2025, Rhode Island and Connecticut filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Rhode Island challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) August 22, 2025 issuance of a Stop Work Order requiring the developer of the Revolution Wind offshore wind project to cease construction. The two states asserted that BOEM’s action violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which the states said “demand reasoned decision-making, fidelity to statutory limits, and respect for the settled expectations of sovereign States and regulated parties.” The states alleged that the Stop Work Order harmed them by jeopardizing a project that is “critical to the States’ economic vitality, energy mix, and climate goals.” The complaint identified state-level statutory requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify the energy supply and alleged that the Stop Work Order would imperil compliance with such mandates.
Summary
Rhode Island and Connecticut's challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Stop Work Order halting construction of the Revolution Wind offshore wind project.