Testimony: Go big on offshore wind with port upgrades

“Thank you so much Chair Min and members of the committee. My name is Laura Deehan and I’m the State Director for Environment California. We work for clean air, clean water and to protect our precious open spaces and wildlife in the state.

During the 2021 legislative session we were lucky to get to work with Assemblymember David Chiu and with co-sponsors in the State Building and Construction Trades to sponsor AB 525, and as a result of the leadership of the legislature, California is now on track to really go big on offshore wind with really big, ambitious goals, which is just what we need in order to accelerate our path to a 100% clean energy future.

Offshore wind has so much promise for helping us get to that clean energy future. It can really help us stave off the worst impacts of climate change, and we can do it in a way that is responsible and that prioritizes wildlife concerns as well. 

We are proud to sponsor AB 3 and to get to work with Assemblymember Zbur on this really important bill. AB 3 is critical to make sure that we continue to move forward on actually getting offshore wind to be a reality. There are a few real hurdles still in our path to realizing the potential of offshore wind. One of those is how we’re going to have to completely transform California’s port infrastructure. This is an enormous undertaking– just envision how enormous these turbines are that we’re going to have to launch from our ports, which will require major work. We’re also going to need to create a brand new supply chain, so in order to make sure we do both of these things we really need AB 3 to ensure we have that excellent plan in place to take advantage of this opportunity.

Thank you, we urge an aye vote.”