Saving Seafood

Congress Moves to Preserve NOAA Funding for Fisheries and Climate Research

January 14, 2026 — On Monday, Senators moved a funding package forward that would preserve 2026 funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), despite the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to the agency last year.

The appropriations bill, which funds multiple agencies, already passed in the House; the Senate is expected to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk this week.

Last year, Trump requested a $1.5 billion cut to the agency’s roughly $6 billion budget. A memo from his Office of Management and Budget also proposed eliminating NOAA’s office dedicated to research on climate and weather patterns, zeroing out funding for weather and ocean labs, and moving regulation of fisheries to the Fish & Wildlife Service.

Experts warned the budget cuts could have dire consequences for farmers, who rely on weather data, and the country’s fisheries, which rely on NOAA to enforce catch limits, invest in habitat conservation, and preserve coastlines.

Read the full article at Civil Eats

VIRGINIA: Here’s what’s happening with the federal pause on Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm in Virginia Beach

January 14, 2026 — Dominion is suing the Interior Department for the December order, which the utility calls “arbitrary and capricious.”

The Trump administration is continuing its campaign against the offshore wind industry, and Dominion Energy is now one of the targets.

The U.S. Interior Department last month issued a 90-day pause for work on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, as well as four others in New England. Officials cited national security risks “identified in recently completed classified reports.”

The $11 billion Virginia Beach project, which stretches about 27 to 44 miles off the Oceanfront, was expected to start delivering electricity to the grid within months and finish construction later this year.

“We stand ready to do what is necessary to get these vital electrons flowing as quickly as possible,” the utility stated in a December news release.

Dominion quickly sued the federal government, calling the stop-work order “arbitrary and capricious.” The first hearing in the case is set for Friday in Norfolk.

Read the full article at WHRO

Trump’s freeze of an offshore wind project faces scrutiny from a judge he appointed

January 14, 2026 — A federal judge is considering whether to set aside a Trump administration order pausing construction on a major offshore wind farm for New York, which the developer says could mean the death of a project that’s 60% complete.

The Empire Wind project is designed to power more than 500,000 homes. Norwegian company Equinor said the project was in jeopardy due to the limited availability of specialized vessels, as well as heavy financial losses. It’s one of five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast that the administration froze days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Developers and states have sued seeking to block the order.

The case was heard Wednesday by District Judge Carl J. Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump. Nichols plans to issue his decision Thursday.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Rebuking Trump Administration, Judge Allows Revolution Wind To Continue Construction

January 14, 2025 — A federal judge ruled Monday that Revolution Wind can continue construction work as its legal appeal of the Trump administration’s freeze on federal leases for offshore wind projects progresses. Revolution Wind, located off Rhode Island, is one of three wind farms suing over the pause, which the Trump administration claims is necessary to mitigate national security concerns.

District of Columbia Judge Royce Lamberth said the federal government did not provide sufficient justification for the freeze and found that Revolution Wind was likely to succeed on the merits of the case.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum claimed that the pause “addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.”

The Trump administration has been vague about the specific nature of its national security concerns, and some critics have alleged that the government’s actions are more related to President Donald Trump’s personal dislike of wind turbines.

Revolution Wind called the administration’s actions unlawful, saying it had consulted with the Department of Defense on potential national security issues and had even reached a formal mitigation agreement.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

MARYLAND: Panel held in OC to Stop Offshore Wind

January 14, 2026 — A public hearing drew in hundreds to the Roland E. Powell Convention center on Monday night, as eight local leaders and experts spoke on a panel against the installation of offshore windmills.

The event, hosted by the StopOffshoreWind Coalition, in coordination with the Town of Ocean City (OC) and Worcester County Government, sought to push back against U.S. Wind’s longstanding proposal to construct a 114 turbine windfarm located 10.7 miles off the coast of OC. The project was approved in Oct. 2024 under the Biden Administration, but faced scrutiny under the following Trump Administration. On Sept. 12, 2025, the Department of the Interior (DOI) reversed course and filed a motion to vacate and remand the project approval. When the U.S. District Court ordered a briefing on that motion, the federal government then sought to stay the proceedings indefinitely. Maryland Attorney General (AG) Anthony G. Brown and Delaware AG Kathry Jennings have since filed briefs requesting preliminary injunctions to save the project. A ruling is expected late summer 2026.

Speakers gathered to inform residents on where the project currently stands, and how they are continuing the fight against offshore wind. OC Mayor Rick Meehan opened the event and introduced each of the panelists, who specialized in a particular field related to concerns surrounding offshore windmill installation.

“It is almost impossible to believe that over the past eight years, and after attending numerous public hearings at both the state and federal level, stating our concerns, that not one of our concerns has been addressed,” Mayor Meehan said in his opening remarks. “Our goal tonight is to bring to light some of these questions, and provide some of the missing answers for the people in this room.”

Read the full article at WMDT

Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Latest Effort to Stop Offshore Wind Project

January 13, 2026 — A federal judge on Monday ruled that construction could resume on a $6.2 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, striking down the Trump administration’s decision last month to halt work on the Revolution Wind project.

Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Interior Department’s suspension order was “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of federal law.

Revolution Wind is one of five offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast that were ordered to stop work last month by the Trump administration, which cited unspecified national security concerns. Several states, as well as developers of four of the projects, have challenged the move in court. The case involving Revolution Wind was the first complaint to be heard.

The decision is a temporary victory for Revolution Wind and the offshore wind industry, which has been roiled by the Trump administration’s efforts to block offshore wind farms that had received permits under the Biden administration. Orsted, the Danish energy giant that is building Revolution Wind, can now continue with construction as litigation it has filed against the Trump administration proceeds.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Offshore wind developer prevails in U.S. court as Trump calls wind farms ‘losers’

January 13, 2026 — A federal judge ruled Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory as President Trump seeks to shut it down.

At the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not explain why it could not take action short of a complete stop to construction on Revolution Wind while it considers ways to mitigate its national security concerns. He said it also did not provide sufficient reasoning for its change in position.

Revolution Wind has received all of its federal permits and is nearly 90% complete to provide power for Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Trump says his goal is to not let any “windmills” be built. Three energy developers are challenging the administration’s freeze of their offshore wind projects in the federal courts this week.

Danish energy company Orsted, Norwegian company Equinor, and Dominion Energy Virginia each sued to ask the courts to vacate and set aside the administration’s Dec. 22 order to freeze five big projects on the East Coast over national security concerns. Orsted’s hearing was first on its Revolution Wind project. Orsted said it will soon resume construction to deliver affordable, reliable power to the Northeast.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Another reprieve for Revolution Wind

January 13, 2026 — For the second time a federal court on Monday turned back the Trump administration’s attempt to shut down the Revolution Wind energy project off southern New England, handing wind power developers another temporary reprieve in an on-again, off-again legal battle.

 U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled developer Ørsted “would be irreparably harmed” unless work on the almost 90 percent complete turbine array is allowed to continue, while the company disputes the government’s Dec. 22 claim that “national security” required an immediate stop-work order.

 The judge’s temporary injunction mirrors an earlier ruling he issued in September a few weeks after the administration attempted then to halt Revolution Wind. Of the Dec. 22 order, Judge Lamberth wrote, the decision appeared “arbitrary and capricious” and violating the Administrative Procedure Act that requires detailed rationale for rule changes and a public comment period.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Legal tests await Trump’s offshore energy agenda in 2026

January 13, 2026 — From stalled offshore wind turbines along the Eastern Seaboard to an oil drilling boom off the Gulf Coast, the Trump administration’s moves to shake up the energy sector are getting their day in court in 2026.

This year, federal judges will decide the legality of the Trump team’s reversals of advances in the offshore wind industry and its push to open more of the nation’s waters to fossil fuel development. The court battles are expected to help shape the U.S. energy mix for decades to come.

“The next 12 months are going to be extraordinarily important for the nation’s long-term protection of the environment and commitment to renewable energy,” said Basil Seggos, partner and senior policy director at the law firm Foley Hoag.

Read the full article at E&E News

Nantucket Group, Island Fishermen Sue Federal Government To Vacate Vineyard Wind Approvals

January 13, 2026 — Already suspended by the federal government over national security concerns, Vineyard Wind is now facing another challenge: a federal lawsuit filed by the Nantucket-based offshore wind opposition group ACK For Whales and two island fishermen seeking to vacate its permits.

The non-profit activist group has been joined by Martha’s Vineyard fisherman and Wampanoag tribe member William Vanderhoop and Nantucket lobsterman Dan Pronk in the legal challenge. They claim the federal government violated the Offshore Continental Shelf Land Act (OCSLA) and the Administrative Procedures Act when it approved Vineyard Wind under the Biden administration.

The lawsuit, filed last Friday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks orders vacating Vineyard Wind’s record of decision and its construction and operations plan, claiming the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of the Interior ignored “the disruptive effects the turbines have on civil aviation and national defenses, imperiling safety.”

“They were in such a rush to achieve their political goals, they didn’t care what corners they cut, the threat to our national defense or personal flying safety, or how high our electric bills would go,” said Nantucket resident and ACK For Whales president Vallorie Oliver in a statement. “This was politics at its worst.”

The group’s lawsuit also alleges that BOEM is violating the law by allowing Vineyard Wind to continue to operate.

“BOEM is engaging in ongoing violations of OCSLA because it continues to allow Vineyard Wind 1 project to operate under approvals that were issued using an interpretation of OCSLA…that the Office of the Solicitor has since withdrawn as erroneous,” the lawsuit states.

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current