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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday that the administration will appeal a federal judge’s ruling blocking his department from enforcing a handful of policies that have stalled permits for solar and wind projects.
Burgum told the House Natural Resources Committee that the administration rejected the “whole premise” of an April decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Chief Judge Denise Casper issued a preliminary injunction striking down five DOI memos that renewable energy developers argued created a de facto blockade to their projects on public and private lands.
“The idea that a single judge could decide what the process that we’re supposed to go through internally to make sure that we’re complying with the law through a complex permitting process is absurd,” Burgum said in response to questions from Rep. Susie Lee (D-N.V.).
Burgum’s comments dim the chances of bipartisan permitting reform in Congress this year. Last month, two key senators said their support for legislation was conditional on DOI approving solar and wind projects following the preliminary injunction. Senate rules require most bills to pass with 60 votes, and the GOP currently has a 53-seat majority — making Democratic support key.
