Oceana Celebrates Historic Day for U.S. Offshore Wind Industry
Press Release Date: July 31, 2013
Location:
Contact:
Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter
WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its first-ever offshore wind lease sale, leasing 164,750 acres off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The area was divided into two leases, the North Lease Area (Lease OCS-A0486), which consists of about 97,500 acres, and the South Lease Area (Lease OCS-A0487), covering approximately 67,250 acres.
Oceana celebrated the sale and released the following statement from deputy vice president for U.S. campaigns Jacqueline Savitz:
“Today is a historic day for the United States and its offshore wind industry.
For more than 20 years, we have watched as Europe developed and benefited from offshore wind power. It is high time for the U.S. to take advantage of this unlimited resource that can help solve our climate and energy challenges.
Today’s lease sale takes a critical step toward building offshore wind in U.S. waters. These companies understand the massive clean energy and job-creating potential that offshore wind provides. They should be commended for their efforts to transition America off of fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.
However, in order to continue the advancement of the U.S. offshore wind industry, we will need a long-term extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC is necessary to stimulate investment in offshore wind, and extending it will further demonstrate that the U.S. stands strong in its commitment to this renewable energy source. We urge Congress to provide a long-term extension of the ITC for offshore wind so that we can finally begin to reap all of the environmental and economic benefits of this domestic clean energy supply.”
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Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 550,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.oceana.org.