The White House on Monday launched an ambitious program to greatly boost the development of offshore wind power in the United States, initially focusing on the Eastern Seaboard. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other administration officials said the plan calls for deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power across the country by 2030. The United States currently has only 28 megawatts of capacity and one functioning offshore wind farm.
Officials estimate that reaching the goals will create more than $12 billion annually in capital investment along both U.S. coasts and create tens of thousands of jobs in the industry and in spin-off areas. McCarthy said in a statement issued by the White House: “President Biden has declared very clearly that when he thinks of climate, he thinks of people and jobs — good-paying, union jobs.”
