AOWC Executive Director Christopher Quinn commented on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) Vineyard Wind supplemental draft Environmental Impact Statement. His comments are available here or below:
Walter Cruickshank, Ph.D., Acting Director
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
July 24, 2020
Dear Acting Director Cruickshank,
We write you today to demonstrate our support for the offshore wind industry here in the U.S. and to thank your agency for advancing it by releasing the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind. Moving forward on Vineyard Wind, and indeed U.S. offshore wind, is essential for creating a regulatory environment that can bring much-needed progress to this rapidly emerging market and new industry for the United States.
Regulatory certainty is a must for U.S. offshore wind because this industry’s expansion offers a once-in-generation opportunity to create jobs, capital and business prospects that will sustain a bright, transformational future for our skilled labor force, maritime industries, shipbuilders, manufacturers, steel makers, cement makers, and energy providers.
The size of the opportunity is enormous: the International Energy Agency forecasts as much as $140 billion in direct investment into U.S. offshore wind energy projects over the next 20 years. Those figures do not account for the tens of billions in related economic activity that will be sparked by the offshore wind investments across related supply chains.
And the pace of growth is surging. A University of Delaware report issued a year ago forecast $68.2 billion in direct CAPEX for 18.6 GW of offshore projects in seven Atlantic states. Just a year later, the project pipeline for those states has grown nearly 55 percent to 28.8 GW.
The American Offshore Wind Coalition’s mission is to advocate for all policies advancing the expeditious construction of offshore wind generation facilities, transmission assets, substation upgrades, port upgrades and all attendant facilities for servicing this industry in the United States. We simultaneously and unrepentantly push for investments into, and secure commitments for, the development of the U.S. domestic supply chain and labor force that will build and service America’s offshore wind assets now and into the future.
Our focus is securing American jobs and opportunities for industries and workers across the supply chain including U.S. steel manufacturers, American technology providers, U.S. shipbuilders, and organized labor and building tradespeople. We want this industry in the United States, and we want all the associated economic activity here – everything from advanced manufacturing, services and transportation, to technology and materials.
Streamlined permitting and clear regulatory processes, such as those the Council on Environmental Quality have brought to life through the recent revamping of the National Environmental Protection Act review process, will benefit offshore wind and we support any BOEM efforts to bring needed clarity through the Vineyard Wind review.
As we fight through intertwined economic crises in America – the COVID-19 outbreak and the energy market’s disruption – there has never been a more important time for the offshore wind industry to establish its footing for the future while creating jobs on shovel-ready projects that put Americans to work on our economic recovery.
Vineyard Wind is such a project, and BOEM and the Department of the Interior have the opportunity to set in place pro-American, business- and labor-friendly policies that can unlock the enormous potential of this industry, while ensuring that the maximum benefits of it accrue to American entities and citizens. These policies can help revitalize port and coastal communities across the country beyond just the Atlantic coast, and all of their maritime industries.
We advocate for all those who will benefit from U.S. offshore wind expansion. We encourage BOEM to carefully weigh the economic impacts and potential benefits of this industry to all stakeholder groups – which are vast when the entire supply chain that will be required is considered – against those of smaller, more vocal interests who have no intention of reaching an end state where offshore wind development is possible.
Once again, we thank you for your efforts and diligence in moving the Vineyard Wind draft EIS forward, and appreciate your work to bring the U.S. offshore wind industry to life. We especially appreciate the thorough legal review by BOEM and the Department of the Interior. We stand ready to be a partner and central source of information about all the stakeholders who will benefit from the bright future a homegrown, U.S.-led offshore wind industry offers our nation.
Sincerely,
Christopher Quinn
Executive Director
Comments