California sues Trump admin over offshore wind lease buyout

The state attorney general said federal officials are using a sham settlement to choke the offshore wind industry.OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — California on Friday sued the Trump administration over what it calls an unlawful buyout of an offshore wind energy lease, jeopardizing thousands of jobs in favor of the oil industry.California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the federal government and Golden State Wind over the lease buyout. Bonta said the White House used $120 million in taxpayer dollars to push Golden State Wind to abandon its lease and invest the same amount in out-of-state fossil-fuel projects.“They’re breaking the law to do so,” Bonta said, adding: “The president has no authority to shut us out of that process.”California asks a federal judge to find the lease cancellation and buyout agreement unconstitutional, set both aside and stop the Trump administration from making similar agreements in the state.Bonta says California worked with Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden to develop offshore wind projects in federal waters. But in his second term, Trump has sought to curtail the industry, first through stop-work orders rejected by courts and later by buying out energy leases through settlements.Bonta says the administration misused millions in taxpayer funds to abandon a project that would have created good-paying jobs, revitalized state ports and provided clean energy.California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild called the administration’s action reckless and unlawful.“People of our state care deeply about clean air and clean energy,” he said, adding: “We’re not going to stand idly by as these attacks unfold.”Bonta says Golden State Wind won a wind lease at auction in late 2022 for more than 80,000 acres, about 22 miles off California’s coast. Its bid included more than $30 million for workforce training, supply chain development and community benefits, which the state expected to spur economic activity.California then invested more than $100 million in offshore wind development to help meet its clean energy and climate goals.Bonta characterizes what followed as a legal workaround. The Interior Department announced in April that it had agreed with Golden State Wind to terminate the lease, claiming it otherwise would have issued a stop-work order and that the agreement settled potential claims from the company.“Golden State Wind never filed or came close to filing a complaint, administrative challenge, or similar legal action,” Bonta says in the suit, adding: “This ‘settlement offer first, claim after’ sequence is not how the federal government resolves genuine legal controversies.”On Friday, Bonta called the agreement a sham settlement.Under the buyout, Golden State Wind would invest $120 million in Gulf Coast fossil fuel projects, funded through a federal judgment fund used to pay settlements against the government, Bonta says.He also says Golden State Wind appears to have agreed to forgo future offshore wind projects nationwide.Bonta argues the lease buyout is unlawful, arbitrary and capricious, violating the Administrative Procedure Act.Additionally, it violates the Judgment Fund Act and Antideficiency Act. Bonta says the government can tap into the judgment fund to pay out a compromise settlement, though it can’t be used for “backroom deals over phantom controversies.”The Antideficiency Act prohibits executive officers from spending money Congress hasn’t appropriated.“The benefit that the buyout agreement actually confers on the federal government is not the dismissal of any genuine litigation claims but the funding of the Trump administration’s preferred fossil-fuel energy projects, paid for by virtue of public funds never appropriated for that purpose,” Bonta says.The Interior Department told Courthouse News it had no comment, as the litigation is pending. Golden State Wind couldn’t be reached for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads