EOPA says the best response to Senator Manchin’s failure to support climate goals is to build more offshore wind (source: Sen Manchin)
Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA), a network of current and former elected officials, has urged the Biden administration to do even more to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy
Since President Biden entered office, his administration has set a target of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and numerous actions have been taken to facilitate that goal.
However, the President’s green agenda suffered a blow recently when Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support more funding for climate action.
In response, EOPA is urging the President to open up more lease areas for offshore wind, in addition to those that have recently been opened. It has also highlighted the economic benefits of offshore wind.
“With the stunning news that Senator Manchin will not vote for the climate provisions in the reconciliation bill, we urge the administration to open up more offshore wind leases for development,” said EOPA.
Elected officials from New York, New Jersey and California are due to participate in a joint press conference on the matter today (19 July 2022). Economist John Polimeni will speak about how clean energy is economically ‘our best viable choice for the future, and that offshore wind will play an important role.’
EOPA executive director and co-founder Dominic Frongillo said, “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.
“It is poised to become a US$1Trn industry by 2040, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, providing clean energy and spurring economic growth. EOPA fully supports the responsible buildout of offshore wind for America and sees it as a key component to solving the man-made climate crisis.”
EOPA says it has support from officials in New York, New JerseyandCalifornia,backing responsible offshore wind development. Collectively, 340 elected officials have signed with more signing daily.
EOPA states that, of the 14 states along the Atlantic seaboard, 12 have the potential to produce more electricity from offshore wind than they used in 2019, and seven have the potential to produce more than they are projected to use in 2050. This is according to the ‘Offshore Wind for America’ report.
