About a year and a half ago I wrote about one of the four lawsuits brought in an attempt to halt the Vineyard Wind project (see https://insights.mintz.com/post/102her6/another-day-another-weaponization-of-the-courts-to-try-to-prevent-renewable-ener).  

This particular lawsuit was filed on behalf of folks in the fishing industry but the people really behind the lawsuit are the lawyers at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. At the time, one of the top ten priorities of the Foundation was to prohibit the State of Texas "from doing business with companies that engage in energy discrimination through politically motivated environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing." I think you get the gist of what is going on here.

Today two significant things happened in that case. Both were happy developments for those interested in our transition to a renewable energy future. 

First, components for the project arrived in New Bedford all the way from Portugal (see https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/vineyard-wind-components-arrive-in-new-bedford/) which isn't the first important connection between Portugal and New Bedford. 

Second, District Judge Talwani denied the plaintiffs' motion for a stay or a preliminary injunction finding that that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed in proving the merits of any of their claims.  

So the construction of the Vineyard Wind project will continue with no more drag than it is already suffering. Unfortunately there will still be more shenanigans in the Seafreeze case before it is finally over which is something we all should be thinking about as we think about making it easier to get to our renewable energy future.