Biden Administration Announces Push for Offshore Wind Farms to Create Union JobsPenny Starr 29 Mar 2021
The Biden Administration announced on Monday that it is putting forth a government-wide push to increase offshore wind farms on all three coasts in the United States, citing the move will “create good paying union jobs.â€
Press Secretary Jen Psaki spoke about the effort and a fact sheet the administration released at the daily press briefing.
“Today the White House convened leaders from across the administration and is taking coordinated steps to announce a set of bold actions that will catalyze offshore wind energy and create good paying union jobs,†Psaki said.
“The president recognizes that a thriving offshore wind industry will drive new jobs and economic opportunity up and down the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific waters,†Psaki said.
The U.S. Departments of Interior, Energy, Commerce and Transportation will spearhead the effort to “announce new leasing, funding, and development goals to accelerate and deploy offshore wind energy and jobs.â€
The fact sheet stated that aside from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy met on Monday with state officials, industry executives, and labor leaders to announce new leasing and funding.
The fact sheet also said that the jobs will come “with the choice to join a union.â€
“The [wind] industry will also spawn new supply chains that stretch into America’s heartland, as illustrated by the 10,000 tons of domestic steel that workers in Alabama and West Virginia are supplying to a Texas shipyard where Dominion Energy is building the nation’s first Jones Act compliant wind turbine installation vessel,†the fact sheet stated.
The fact sheet includes claims about the benefits the wind industry will reap, while revealing the cost to taxpayers:
• Establishing a Target of Employing Tens of Thousands of Workers to Deploy 30 Gigawatts (30,000 megawatts) of Offshore Wind by 203
• The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration today is announcing a Notice of Funding Opportunity for port authorities and other applicants to apply for $230 million for port and intermodal infrastructure-related projects through the Port Infrastructure Development Program
• DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) released a fact sheet to facilitate access for the offshore wind industry for $3 billion in funding through LPO’s Title XVII Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program.
• The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), created by the DOE and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), is announcing the award of $8 million to 15 offshore wind research and development projects that were selected through a competitive process.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/29/biden-administration-announces-push-for-offshore-wind-farms-to-create-union-jobs/