A lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia challenged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM’s) approvals of two wind energy projects off the coast of Rhode Island: (1) the South Fork Wind Project, approved in January 2022, and (2) the Revolution Wind Project, approved in August 2023. The plaintiffs asserted that the approvals violated the Administrative Procedure Act, NEPA, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and National Historic Preservation Act. Under NEPA, the plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that the environmental impact statements did not sufficiently evaluate the projects’ impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change because they included only “limited qualitative descriptions of emissions generated from construction” and did not compare the projects’ climate benefits with the benefits of other alternative renewable energy sources or alternative project locations or designs. In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that BOEM failed to conduct “cumulative-level analysis of climate impacts (positive or negative) associated with the proposed scale of offshore wind development.”

Challenge to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approvals of two wind energy projects off the coast of Rhode Island.

Green Oceans v. U.S. Department of the Interior

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Lawsuit Challenged Federal Approvals for Wind Projects Off Coast of Rhode Island

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Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

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Lawsuit Challenged Federal Approvals for Wind Projects Off Coast of Rhode Island

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance