James calls the Bluepoint and Invenergy payments "illegal backroom deals"
Attorney General of New York
“These illegal backroom deals take money that should have gone toward lowering New Yorkers' bills and hand it to fossil fuel projects in other states, all while our energy demand continues to grow.”
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
New York Attorney General's press release announcing the lawsuits over the Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy settlement payments.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
James spoke as she and Governor Kathy Hochul announced New York was leading a coalition of eight states in two new lawsuits challenging the Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy settlement payments.
After the quotation
James said her office would continue litigating to have the settlements struck down.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: The settlement payments to offshore wind developers are not lawful compromise settlements of actual or imminent litigation and are a type of payment otherwise provided for by law under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, making them unavailable from the Judgment Fund under 31 U.S.C. 1304.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
James directly rejects the payments as "illegal backroom deals", condemning both the legality and the effect of the Judgment Fund payments to Bluepoint Wind and Invenergy.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of the Interior
Did the Interior Department's offshore wind lease-cancellation payments comply with the Judgment Fund Act?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“President Trump is trying to send $111 million to his fossil fuel industry friends and wants taxpayers and working families to cover the tab.”Read statement
“The use of congressionally appropriated funds, potentially in violation of the Antideficiency Act, to pay private companies to cancel clean energy projects on the condition that they invest in fossil fuel ventures appears to be quid pro quo. ... You have furnished these reimbursements through the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Judgment Fund, which was created to pay valid judgement and settlements where the United States is the defendant. The details of these agreements make clear that your payment structure does not meet the statutory requirements governing use of the Judgment Fund: DOI has identified no final judgment, Attorney General-approved compromise of a referred claim, or money-damages liability that would make this payment eligible for the Judgment Fund under 31 U.S.C. § 1304 or 28 U.S.C. § 2414.”Read statement
“They essentially gave the U.S. government an interest-free loan and their money was refunded to them”Read statement