WASHINGTON D.C. — Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), alongside America First Policy Institute (AFPI), filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting the petition for certiorari in Seafreeze Shoreside et al v. United States Department of Interior et al, a case challenging the authority of offshore wind energy projects.
In 2021 the Biden administration re-launched an ambitious federal initiative to diminish demand for fossil fuels by approving dozens of offshore wind energy generation projects in federal waters on the Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts. Pursuant to this initiative, the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Defense jointly prepared an environmental impact statement required by the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) that led to the approval of the Vineyard Wind project, the first of many large-scale, industrial offshore wind energy projects envisioned for the United States. No federal court has ever reviewed such an approval.
This project was challenged as contrary to the text of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and NEPA because the record showed the project would result in momentous adverse impacts on marine navigation, safety, and national defense.
The First Circuit rejected these challenges by adopting the district court’s uncritical reliance on the federal agencies’ discretion to interpret the relevant statutes, rather than independently determining the best reading of OCSLA.
Loper Bright made it clear that courts must independently interpret statutes and not rubber-stamp agency interpretations. Yet, the First Circuit wrongly allowed the Department of the Interior to “balance” statutory requirements with perceived Congressional intent—without first determining the “best” meaning of the law as Loper Bright demands. This error creates a split among the circuits. Other courts, like the Sixth Circuit, are correctly applying Loper Bright by independently interpreting statutes before granting any agency deference.
Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor for Independent Women’s Law Center, said, “The First Circuit’s decision undermines the constitutional principle that it is the role of the courts—not unelected officials—to interpret the law. If not overturned, agency authority is broadened well beyond what Congress originally intended. It is time for unelected bureaucrats to be reigned in, especially within the context of the dangers and harm posed by offshore wind energy projects.”
Gabriella Hoffman, director of Independent Women’s Center for Energy & Conservation, said, “Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation is happy to lend support to an amicus brief challenging the Biden administration’s offshore wind directive. Government-subsidized offshore wind projects produce unreliable, expensive electricity and harm endangered North Atlantic right whales. These costly projects should be subjected to the same, if not more, scrutiny as other energy infrastructure projects—not expeditiously approved in the name of fighting climate change.”
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