Washington (March 8, 2021) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the Biden administration announced today that it has completed the environmental analysis of the proposed Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project. This is an important and the penultimate regulatory milestone for the project, since the Trump administration tried to prevent the company from moving forward with the permitting process. Senator Markey’s office has convened multiple phone calls and meetings with the Massachusetts Governor’s office, the Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and local fishing and government stakeholders in order to discuss continued progress on the Vineyard Wind project.

 

“With every step taken to reinsert certainty, reliability, and scientific rigor into the regulatory process for the Vineyard Wind project, the Biden administration is putting wind back in the sails of this vital new industry,” said Senator Markey, Chair of the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety. “We urge the administration and all relevant stakeholders to continue working together for the responsible development of wind off our coast, in order to energize the economy, provide affordable electricity, and move us further into a climate-safe future.” 

 

In June 2019, Senators Markey, Tom Carper (D-Del.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced legislation to expand offshore wind educational and career training. Senators Markey and Whitehouse, and Congressman Jim Langevin (RI-02) also reintroduced legislation that would spur the growth of offshore wind energy by extending tax credits for the renewable energy industry. Key components of their Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development (WIND) Act (S. 1957) were included in the year-end spending package in December 2020, including the provision that extends the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for offshore wind facilities at 30 percent through 2025.

 

In December 2019, Senator Markey sent letters to offshore wind developers Vineyard Wind, Ørsted, Mayflower Wind, and Equinor calling on them to enter into Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for all projects off the Massachusetts and the larger East Coast. A PLA would ensure that newly created jobs in the offshore wind industry would be filled with a highly skilled local union workforce.