Over 81,000 Acres Leased Off New York Coast for Offshore Wind | Oceana

Over 81,000 Acres Leased Off New York Coast for Offshore Wind

Press Release Date: March 16, 2016

Location: Washington, D.C.

Contact:

Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management defined a Wind Energy Area development of 81,130 acres in federal waters off the coast of New York, 11 miles south of Long Island.

In response to the newly proposed plan, Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana’s vice president for the U.S., released the following statement:

“Just one day after President Obama announced the removal of the Atlantic Ocean from future plans to drill for offshore oil and gas, the Department of Interior has taken another step in the right direction toward reducing our global carbon pollution and generating clean renewable energy for future generations.

Oceana supports the responsible development of offshore wind energy and believes that when it’s done in environmentally responsible way, it can make a huge contribution towards the clean energy solution that we need. Oceana applauds DOI for identifying an area of more than 81,000 acres for offshore wind development off the coast of New York. This new Wind Energy Area adds to the 1 million acres already slated for offshore wind development in the Atlantic, showing that the U.S. can move rapidly to develop clean energy sources off the Atlantic coast, rather than drilling for the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

This designation for wind energy development will help protect our marine life, fisheries, coastal economies and oceans, and demonstrate how we can best use our marine resources for energy development.”