Boston (August 10, 2019) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.),  a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Commerce Committees, released the following statement after the Department of the Interior announced it is delaying approval of a key permit for the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project. Senator Markey led a letter in December 2018 with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. William Keating (MA-09), and the Rhode Island Senators urging consensus between offshore wind and fishing interests. Most recently, 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 (DOE), and local fishing and government stakeholders in order to discuss moving forward with the Vineyard Wind project.

“Massachusetts and all of New England should be able to benefit from both robust fishing and offshore wind industries, but the Trump administration, led by a former oil lobbyist at the Department of Interior, seems dead set on stifling consensus and clean energy,” said Senator Markey. “The harmful consequences of delaying the nation’s first major offshore wind project in the final hours of the permitting process will be felt far beyond Massachusetts. It sends a clear and chilling message across this nascent industry that the Trump Administration will do everything in its power to cut corners for oil and gas projects while cutting the chord on the next frontier of clean energy deployment. The Trump administration’s delay of offshore wind means a delay on unleashing thousands of jobs across our state, a delay in Massachusetts leading in developing the next frontier of clean energy, and a delay that our planet cannot afford to reduce global warming pollution. That is unacceptable.”  

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