Mountain Media, LLC
  • West Virginia News
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • Mountain Messenger
      • Pocahontas Times
      • Parsons Advocate
      • Pendleton Times
      • Clay County Free Press
      • Calhoun Chronicle
      • Shinnston News
    • By County
      • Greenbrier County
      • Clay County
      • Harrison County
      • Calhoun County
      • Pocahontas County
      • Pendleton County
      • Tucker County
  • Virginia Media, INC
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • The Enterprise
      • Fincastle Herald
      • Henry County Enterprise
      • News Messenger
      • News Journal
      • Vinton Messenger
      • New Castle Record
      • Salem Times Register
    • By County/City
      • Botetourt County
      • Henry County
      • Radford
      • Christiansburg/Blacksburg
      • Patrick County
      • Vinton
      • Roanoke
      • Salem
      • Craig County
  • National News
  • About Us
  • Submit Content
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • Login
  • My account
Subscribe For $2.50/Month
No Result
View All Result
MM, LLC
  • West Virginia News
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • Mountain Messenger
      • Pocahontas Times
      • Parsons Advocate
      • Pendleton Times
      • Clay County Free Press
      • Calhoun Chronicle
      • Shinnston News
    • By County
      • Greenbrier County
      • Clay County
      • Harrison County
      • Calhoun County
      • Pocahontas County
      • Pendleton County
      • Tucker County
  • Virginia Media, INC
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • The Enterprise
      • Fincastle Herald
      • Henry County Enterprise
      • News Messenger
      • News Journal
      • Vinton Messenger
      • New Castle Record
      • Salem Times Register
    • By County/City
      • Botetourt County
      • Henry County
      • Radford
      • Christiansburg/Blacksburg
      • Patrick County
      • Vinton
      • Roanoke
      • Salem
      • Craig County
  • National News
  • About Us
  • Submit Content
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • Login
  • My account
No Result
View All Result
Mountain Media, LLC
  • Virginia News
  • West Virginia News
  • National News
  • Login
  • My account
  • Subscribe
Home Local National News

Biden teams with East Coast governors to boost offshore wind

June 24, 2022
in National News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday launched a formal partnership with 11 East Coast governors to boost the growing offshore wind industry, a key element of President Joe Biden’s plan for climate change.

Biden, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and other top administration officials met with governors, wind industry officials and labor leaders Thursday at the White House. The session focused on ways to expand important segments of the offshore industry, including manufacturing facilities, ports and workforce training and development.

“Together we’re stepping up. We’re about to build a better America,” Biden said. “It’s not just about the future. It’s about right now.”

The partnership comprises governors of both parties from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Missing from the compact is Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has moved to withdraw the state from a regional carbon-limiting initiative meant to combat climate change.

Spokesperson Macaulay Porter said Youngkin supports the offshore wind industry, and his administration has participated in calls with the White House on the topic.

“The commonwealth is already a leader in offshore wind, and the Youngkin administration is focused on … this emerging sector in a way that is consistent with promoting jobs for Virginia and its right-to-work philosophy,” Porter said, referring to a state policy that promotes a worker’s right not to be required to join a labor union.

Youngkin is “fully committed to Virginia’s current offshore wind project” and will continue to support any future project “that meets Virginia’s economic needs and protects ratepayers from high energy costs,” Porter said.

In working with states and the private sector, the White House said it will “provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs and invest billions in new American energy supply chains,” including construction of wind turbines, shipbuilding and servicing.

Biden has set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030, enough to provide electricity to 10 million homes, support 77,000 jobs and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind. Offshore wind is a key component in the Democratic president’s plan to make the nation’s electric grid carbon free by 2035.

The Biden administration has approved two large-scale wind projects, Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off New York and Rhode Island. Both are under construction with union labor. The Interior Department has begun reviews of another 10 offshore projects that, if approved, would produce 22 gigawatts of clean energy.

Danish wind developer Orsted signed a project labor agreement last month with a national union representing 3 million people in the building trades to construct the company’s U.S. offshore wind farms with an American union workforce. Orsted currently has six offshore projects in five states.

A national agreement signed with North America’s Building Trades Unions covers contractors working on those projects and future ones, with no termination date on the project labor agreement. It sets the terms and conditions for union workers to build offshore wind farms, with targets to ensure a diverse workforce. It contains provisions for training to ensure they can construct the complex infrastructure, which costs billions of dollars.

“We recognize that states are huge players here,” said David Hayes, a White House climate adviser. With a formal partnership, the Biden administration can “work with the governors on policies going forward and help ensure that there is an American-made supply chain for this brand-new industry,” Hayes said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he and other East Coast governors “are united with our regional and federal partners not just by geography but by a shared commitment to clean and affordable energy, economic opportunity and a future in which all community members are shielded from the worsening impacts of climate change.”

The federal-state collaboration comes as the Biden administration has announced a plan to conduct up to seven offshore wind auctions by 2025, including one held last month off North Carolina and earlier this year in a coastal area known as the New York Bight. Other sales are expected in the Gulf of Maine, the central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore in California and Oregon.

Environmental and clean energy groups hailed the federal-state collaboration.

“Today, there are just seven offshore wind turbines in the United States, and we’re going to need a lot more, done responsibly, to meet our clean energy goals,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director for the conservation group Oceana. She called for “strong safeguards for marine life to avoid, minimize and mitigate the impacts of offshore wind.”

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, an industry group, said wind energy developers support the federal-state initiative. “Clear and predictable permitting for offshore wind is essential to recognizing its potential, and there is still work to do,” Zichal said.

___

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Va., contributed to this story.

ShareTweetShare

Related Posts

Russia claims capture of pivotal city in eastern Ukraine

July 3, 2022

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's defense minister said Russian forces took control Sunday of the last major Ukrainian-held city in...

US testing new fire retardant, critics push other methods

July 3, 2022

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. officials are testing a new wildfire retardant after two decades of buying millions of gallons...

Tesla’s 2Q sales drop amid supply chain, pandemic problems

July 3, 2022

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's sales from April through June fell to their lowest quarterly level since last fall as supply...

Ruling could dampen government efforts to rein in Big Tech

July 3, 2022

The Supreme Court’s latest climate change ruling could dampen efforts by federal agencies to rein in the tech industry, which...

From AM to PM, the fickle force of government is with you

July 2, 2022

WASHINGTON (AP) — When you groggily roll out of bed and make breakfast, the government edges up to your kitchen...

Texas Supreme Court blocks order that resumed abortions

July 2, 2022

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has blocked a lower court order that had allowed clinics in the...

  • Login
  • My account
  • Subscribe
  • Classifieds
Call us: +1 234 JEG THEME

© 2021 Mountain Media, LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart
  • West Virginia News
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • Mountain Messenger
      • Pocahontas Times
      • Parsons Advocate
      • Pendleton Times
      • Clay County Free Press
      • Calhoun Chronicle
      • Shinnston News
    • By County
      • Greenbrier County
      • Clay County
      • Harrison County
      • Calhoun County
      • Pocahontas County
      • Pendleton County
      • Tucker County
  • Virginia Media, INC
    • Around The State
    • By Paper
      • The Enterprise
      • Fincastle Herald
      • Henry County Enterprise
      • News Messenger
      • News Journal
      • Vinton Messenger
      • New Castle Record
      • Salem Times Register
    • By County/City
      • Botetourt County
      • Henry County
      • Radford
      • Christiansburg/Blacksburg
      • Patrick County
      • Vinton
      • Roanoke
      • Salem
      • Craig County
  • National News
  • About Us
  • Submit Content
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • Login
  • My account

© 2021 Mountain Media, LLC

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
  • Sign in
  • New account

Forgot your password?

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password.

Back to login

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

>

Add Mountain Media, LLC to your Homescreen

Add