Offshore wind bill soars through Senate energy committee

On Monday July 5th, the offshore wind bill, AB525 by Asm. Chiu was heard in Senate Energy, Utilities and Communication committee. The bill passed with overwhelming support with 13 aye votes and only 1 abstention. 

Laura Deehan, Environment California state director testified at the hearing:

Thankyou Chairman Hueso and Asm Chiu, I’m Laura Deehan, State Director at Environment California. We are proud to co-sponsor AB 525 to kickstart offshore wind off the California coast.

The recent heat waves, wildfires and current drought emergency underscore the urgent need to accelerate our transition to a 100% clean energy economy. One of the best clean energy sources in California is the wind blowing off our coast, where the wind blows faster and harder than anywhere else in the US.

In our recent report, Offshore Wind for America, we found that California has the technical potential to meet more than 1.5 times our entire state’s electricity needs from 2019, just from offshore wind. 

AB 525 will catalyze California’s offshore wind energy production, by directing the California Energy Commission to coordinate with all the relevant state agencies and to set a goal and create a plan to go big on offshore wind, while protecting our critical marine ecosystems and our state’s biodiversity. 

The faster we can move to deploy clean energy instead of burning fossil fuels, the better chance we have for the future. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.