Nine East Coast Governors Send Letter to President Biden Urging Continued Prioritization of Offshore Wind
BOSTON, MA (June 10, 2021) – Last week, the Governors of Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia sent a letter to President Biden urging continued prioritization of offshore wind and announcing their intention to collaborate across states to meet collective clean energy targets. We applaud the Governors for this move and wholeheartedly support their recommendations.
The Governors’ letter states: “We aim to collaborate across our states by consulting with each other on permitting challenges, natural resource consideration, identifying opportunities to coordinate schedules, and aligning construction timelines to meet states’ respective clean energy targets.” New England for Offshore Wind aims to drive exactly this kind of collaboration because a regional approach is crucial to achieving our clean energy and climate goals, and would unlock economies of scale, accelerate development, and improve project outcomes across the six-state electricity grid we share. We look forward to learning more about the processes that will enable this collaboration and to supporting the Governors’ efforts to maximize the benefits of offshore wind across all communities while protecting our marine ecosystems and wildlife.
We commend the Governors’ recommendation of federal-state partnerships and long-term planning, and we encourage the New England Governors to adopt a similar approach within the region. Articulating a shared vision for offshore wind across the six New England states, along with an accountability structure by which strategic planning and regional collaboration will take place, will ensure the success of our efforts to expand responsibly developed offshore wind in service of our climate goals.
We at New England for Offshore Wind look forward to working with the Governors to drive regional collaboration and advance the responsible development of offshore wind so our region can transition to an equitable and prosperous clean energy future.