Biden Administration Approves Plan To Use California Coast For Floating Windmill Farms
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA) - President Joe Biden's Administration has approved using a quarter million acres off our coast for windmill farms, which supports say could generate enough power for 1.6 million California homes.
"The Biden Administration's commitment to renewable energy is the right way to start the 2020's," Bill Corcoran, who's with the Sierra Club, told CBSLA's Jeff Nguyen.
The White House has set a goal of deploying 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes across the country.
Currently, the US is far behind Europe and China, and the oil and gas industry supports the move. It wants to be part of the transition to renewable energy and fight off attempts by some to ban fossil fuels immediately.
"What's important right now, that as we bring on more renewables like the wind, like more solar, that we don't arbitrarily ban fossil fuels or energy our industry provides the state," Kevin Slagles with Western States Petroleum said.
The farms will be built off the coast of Morro Bay and Monterey. The Navy and Marines blocked the farms in Southern California, saying they need open seas and skies for training. They aren't the only opponents of the windmill farms.
"I want to stress that regardless of what Joe Biden thinks or imagines, never in human history have windmills powered a nation, any nation frankly," Eric Early, with the LA County Republican Party, said.
The White House says the plan would create more than 77,000 jobs across the country.
"You can look at the Biden Administration's commitment on clean energy as a blueprint for a better future for Americans," Corcoran said.