Elected officials from NY, NJ and MA urge responsible offshore wind development to fight the climate crisis and stabilize energy prices
HOST: Dominic Frongillo, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA), former Councilmember and Deputy Supervisor of Caroline, New York.
SPEAKERS:
- Caren Fitzpatrick, Atlantic County Commissioner, New Jersey
- Mary Lupin – Rochester City Council Vice President, New York
- Cobi Frongillo, Councilmember Franklin, MA
- John Polimeni, City Councilman Schenectady, New York
- Sara Goddard, Former Rye City Councilmember, New York
WHEN: October 5, 2022, 11:00 am ET, 8 am PST
WHERE: Virtual Press Conference EOPA Zoom live: https://protectingamerica-net.zoom.us/j/81118789490
Q2 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
The Potential For Offshore Wind Development
BACKGROUND: Offshore wind has the potential to provide more than 2,000 gigawatts (GW) of electric energy in the United States — two times the present generation of the entire U.S. electric grid, according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimate.
The sheer size of the resource illustrates the critical contribution that offshore wind can make toward an energy system powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA), a non-profit group of elected officials who are working to solve the climate crisis, will hold a nationwide virtual press conference on offshore wind projects, comparing progress and highlighting its economic benefits while asking for more offshore wind leases for development and an accelerated leasing process.
“Offshore wind has the potential to be the biggest lever that we can pull to reduce our emissions, address the climate crisis, meet our energy needs, and grow our economy simultaneously.
It’s poised to become a $1 trillion industry by 2040, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, providing clean renewable energy, and spurring economic growth.
Elected Officials to Protect America fully supports the responsible buildout of offshore wind for America and sees it as a key component to solving the climate crisis,“ said Dominic Frongillo, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA), former Councilmember and Deputy Supervisor Caroline, New York.
“Even with the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA’s) unprecedented $370 billion clean energy investments in our security, health, and prosperity, we still have a way to go to meet the 50 percent emission reduction goal by 2030 that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says we must in order to avoid extreme weather and climate disasters becoming the norm.
Increase Gigawatt Goal
Offshore wind can be key in reaching that goal. We urge the federal government to increase their gigawatt goal and accelerate the leasing process.”
The IRA would help slash climate pollution in the U.S. by an estimated 40 percent by the end of the decade, according to at least three separate analyses by think tanks and academic institutions.
While the Biden administration has jump started offshore wind development, infusing coastal states and the industry with confidence, their goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030 will easily be met with current offshore wind projects in development. A larger federal goal needs to be established.
Last week, Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order to ramp up New Jersey’s offshore wind goal to 11 gigawatts by 2040, an increase of nearly 50 percent from its previous goal of 7.5 GW, enough to supply roughly 10 million homes for one year. Now New Jersey is on track to be the highest offshore wind power generating state in the East Coast.
“Here in Atlantic City, we’re at ground zero with tidal flooding becoming the norm. Our children have “flood days” off from school - it’s so bad.
The increased offshore wind goal to 11 gigawatts underscores the importance Governor Murphy has put on achieving his administration’s transition to a 100 percent clean-energy economy by 2050, and demonstrates his commitment to aggressively combat the climate crisis while recognizing the tremendous potential offshore wind can and will play,” said Caren Fitzpatrick, Atlantic County Commissioner, New Jersey, EOPA NJ Leadership Council.
“It’s a huge increase in clean electric energy that will help power our homes, cars and businesses while decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions which will save lives and livelihoods. Now the federal government should increase its offshore wind goal to help other coastal states with offshore wind potential combat the climate crisis.”
Only California, which recently adopted a goal of 25 gigawatts by 2045 has a larger offshore wind commitment. With developments possible for the Great Lakes more permitting needs to happen.
Both Gov. Murphy and Gov. Newsom recognized the huge potential of offshore wind. They’re not alone. Already, 11 states have more than 35 gigawatts of offshore wind projects in their combined pipeline, and two commercial-scale offshore wind farms are now under construction: the South Fork Wind farm near Long Island, New York, and the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Nineteen of the 29 states with offshore wind potential have the technical capacity to produce more electricity from offshore wind than they used in 2019.
And 11 of them have the technical capacity to produce more electricity than they would use in 2050 if the country electrified homes and commercial buildings, transportation and industry.
EOPA has letters for New York, New Jersey and California signed by elected officials in their respective states backing responsible offshore wind development. Collectively, over 340 elected officials have signed with more signing daily.
Elected Officials to Protect America is a network of current and former elected officials who care deeply about protecting the planet and people.
EOPA is committed to solving the climate crisis, ensuring environmental justice, and protecting our lands and waters. EOPA educates through value-based storytelling, training lawmakers, and connecting elected officials to inspire strong environmental leadership.
