Rubbish Check
ABC News Business · 22 September 2026
source“New York, California sue to block Trump administration deals canceling offshore wind projects”
R1/ 10
Base fact
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
12345678910
In short
Rubbish Talk rates ABC News' headline that "New York, California sue to block Trump administration deals canceling offshore wind projects" a 1/10 because it is a plain, accurate description of a lawsuit that was actually filed that day, with no loaded language or omitted context.
The Verdict
Base fact. The headline states exactly what happened, two state attorneys general filed suit to stop lease-buyback deals, and every noun in it (who sued, who they're suing, what the deals do) checks out against the AG offices' own filings and independent wire reporting.
What actually happened
California and New York's attorneys general sued the Trump administration over settlements in which the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to pay offshore wind developers to walk away from their leases. California AG Rob Bonta's suit targets the buyout of Invenergy's lease off the California coast; New York AG Letitia James led a coalition of seven additional states suing over the Invenergy and Bluepoint Wind buyouts affecting East Coast projects.
Key facts
- Both suits were filed the same day (Tuesday, per the article) and both explicitly seek to block or unwind the deals, matching the headline's verb choice exactly.
- The article states the deals would hand energy companies $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars in exchange for the cancellation of multiple projects, with the administration having pledged nearly $4 billion to companies to walk away from projects across the country nationwide.
- Independent reporting corroborates the multi-state, multi-deal structure: California, New York, New Jersey, and six other states alleged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management unlawfully bought out leases with three Invenergy units and one lease with Bluepoint Wind LLC through "backroom deals", put at over $1.5 billion combined.
- California's specific filing centers on one lease: the Morro Bay project, part of the broader Invenergy buyback the article describes.
- New York's coalition includes seven other states joining James's suit, as the article names: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.
What to watch for
Watch whether the lawsuits succeed in halting the buyouts before the government disburses the $1.4-1.5 billion, and whether the administration's broader $4 billion in nationwide lease cancellations draws further state litigation. Also worth tracking: whether courts rule on the states' claim that the deals violate the Judgment Fund Act, a legal theory not detailed in this wire piece.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
