WASHINGTON – The Biden administration today committed to backing offshore wind projects along the Atlantic Seaboard that by 2030 will generate enough electricity to power 10 million homes for a year, will have averted 78 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and created nearly 80,000 jobs.
During a White House forum on clean energy, top officials with the Energy, Commerce and Interior Departments, along with state officials and representatives of the offshore wind industry and labor groups, announced the Wind Energy Area initiative that will identify nearly 800,000 acres in shallow waters, stretching from Long Island down the coast of New Jersey, for offshore wind farms.
The projects the White House announced support for today will supply 30 gigawatts of electricity. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland also announced that her agency will begin the environmental review process for a proposed New Jersey offshore wind project that would provide 1,100 megawatts of power – enough to supply another 500,000 homes in the Garden State.
The Environmental Working Group applauded today’s decision. Here is a statement by EWG President Ken Cook:
The Biden-Harris administration is wasting no time putting the full support of the federal government behind forward-looking initiatives like this one that will deliver clean energy, combat the climate crisis and create good-paying jobs for tens of thousands of hardworking Americans. During the last four years, the renewable energy sector had no partner in the federal government, but pursued its own path of innovation and investment in clean energy solutions. Now the private sector and federal government will be partners in the urgent transition from fossil fuels and reach the president’s target of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.
###
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Visit www.ewg.org for more information.
